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Dawn Robinson, medical assistant, welcomes people to the new Wilton HealthCenter, part of the Hartford HealthCare network.
Jarret Liotta / For Hearst Connecticut Media
WILTON — ‘Convenience’ is the key word for the new medical facility that has just opened in town.
The Wilton HealthCenter, which brings a wide range of health services and specialists under one roof, has begun practice at 60 Danbury Road, just south of Grumman Hill Road. While it was originally scheduled to open on Nov. 1, due to supply-chain issues, the opening was delayed until January.
The center is part of the Hartford HealthCare network, which includes a total of 4,000 providers operating throughout its system, which also includes seven acute-care hospitals throughout the region.
“It’s what every community needs and wants,” explained Dr. Richard Zelkowitz, a specialist in breast oncology and medical director of the breast program at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, who will be among the specialists onsite.
This is considered the first phase of its opening, according to Jocelyn Maminta, director of MultiMedia for the Fairfield Region of Hartford HealthCare. Phases two and three will introduce additional services and specialists over the next two years, she said.
In April, the center — which offers a variety of insurance options, including Medicare, Medicaid and most commercial carriers — will have the addition of a pain management specialist.
At this time, the center already has six doctors with varying specialties, including a general surgeon, a neurologist, two urologists and a bariatrics specialist, as well as Zelkowitz, who is returning to this community where he practiced for over three decades.
“I’m happy to be back,” he said, remarking on the beauty of the new facility, which is housed at the back of the Wilton Corporate Park.
While he continues to have a relationship with St. Vincent’s in Bridgeport, Zelkowitz’s ability to be based at least part-time in Wilton gives his patients new and better options, he said.
“It’s more convenient for his patients,” noted Alejandro Bermudez, Zelkowitz’s medical assistant, who likewise emphasized that patients who are centralized in the towns between the three cities — Bridgeport, Danbury and Norwalk — can now attain many treatments and services locally.
“They have a lot of patients down this way,” said Dawn Robinson medical assistant in bariatrics, “so this is easier for them.”
Zelkowitz said he practiced in Wilton for 31 years previously and notes that he’s already able to work with former patients again at the new health center.
Dr. Craig Floch — director of metabolic and bariatric surgery and section chief general surgery with the Hartford Healthcare Medical Group — practiced in lower Fairfield County for 25 years. While he had a brief professional sojourn upstate, he said he is very pleased to return.
“I had a brief departure from this community but it is a privilege to be back,” he said. “I hope to see former patients who I have not seen in some time.”
Likewise, Floch voiced his pleasure with the new location, particularly as it will make life better for Wilton residents.
“This brand new state-of-the-art facility in Wilton is here to serve the patient-centered needs of this community,” he said.
Katy Dunay, practice administrator in digestive health & surgery with Hartford HealthCare, who works alongside Floch, concurred, noting the convenience for residents of Weston and Westport, as well as Wilton.
“Given that Dr. Floch had a robust medical practice in Norwalk for so many years, we are back in the neighborhood for these patients,” she said.