OGDENSBURG — In an effort to extend coverage to the estimated 14,500 uninsured residents in St. Lawrence County, Fidelis Care has partnered with Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg to open an office inside the hospital.

Fidelis Care is a Catholic nonprofit health insurance agency that provides services for underserved communities across New York. Operating in St. Lawrence County since last year, the organization is hoping to reduce the number of uninsured residents while saving money for hospitals and other care facilities.

“We saved over $14 million in insurable cases at a hospital in Syracuse,” said Tom Julian, a Fidelis Care regional marketing director overseeing the north country.

The organization is the largest government programs-based insurance company in the state and it hopes to have operations in every county within the next couple of years.

It covers more than 700,000 New Yorkers to date, providing access to state and federal insurance programs to those in need.

Fidelis Care employees will be at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Monday, helping to answer patients’ questions and facilitate enrollment in government insurance programs such as Family Health Plus, Child Health Plus and Medicaid Managed Care.

“When someone enters the hospital without insurance, we can speed up the process (of getting people insured) by being in the hospital,” Mr. Julian said.

Representatives with the organization also will visit people’s homes or work if they are unable to see them during their Monday hours.

“We are trying to make it easy for people to do and maintain their health care,” Mr. Julian said.

The organization is seeking additional staff to beef up its coverage of the county.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer