Increasing its medical services to better serve Bayonne residents is the reason Astra Health Center, an urgent care facility at 564 Broadway, is expanding to become a general care practice, officials have announced.
Astra will begin accepting patients from Horizon Health Center’s Bayonne facility, which recently closed, according to Astra Business Manager Ashok Tulsyan.
“They are closing down their Bayonne operations and they have authorized us to treat their Bayonne patients,” Tulsyan said. “They have agreed to transfer their patients to us.”
Tulsyan described the agreement as an affiliate program.
This means a new world for Astra, as it goes from its original urgent care status to one of greater magnitude.
“Right now, in addition to our urgent care, we are also adding primary care to our business,” Tulsyan said. “Our motto is, ‘To provide excellent service, and whatever it takes our staff to achieve that.’”
Besides being only about four blocks from the former Horizon site, patients will have more access to care because of the flexible Astra hours.
Filling an important need for the Bayonne community, Astra already offers urgent care services until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 5 p.m. on Sunday.
When it opened last summer, the center marketed itself as the place for residents to go for acute injury or illness.
“We are here to treat all but life-threatening emergencies,” spokesman Anthony Russo said then. “We handle minor lacerations, coughs, colds, sore throats, strains, and sprains.”
But now, city residents can go to the facility for all their primary care needs.
Astra features a physician and X-ray facilities on site, and 10 patient rooms in a spacious facility.
Astra performs work, school, and sports physicals. It also offers Department of Transportation physicals, drug testing, and more.
It also has extensive occupational corporate health services, handling workers’ compensation cases.
The facility’s management takes pride in having only state-certified physicians on staff, who are looking at this new opportunity as a better way to serve Bayonne residents.
“The benefit is that for patients that are in Bayonne, it will be convenient to go to a location that is close to them,” said Dr. Nina Cheung, the medical director who also heads up the new primary care side of the operation. “We will provide them with the same services as Horizon provided them. I’m excited about it. We want to be more prevalent in the community. And this is another way to let them know who we are.”
Community interest
The company not only treats the community, but gets involved with it as well, devoting a team of nurses to public education and blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol screenings.
“We’re not just a medical facility,” Russo said. “We like to become involved in the cities where we have facilities.”
The company has similar centers in Hoboken and the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township. It plans to open Newark and Belleville practices in the future.
Location, days & hours
Astra is at 564 Broadway, near the corner of 26th Street. Its hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All major insurances are accepted, including Medicare and Medicaid.
For more information, call (201) 468-8888 or visit astra-hc.com.
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.To comment on this story online visit www.hudsonreporter.com.