Teenagers are reportedly jumping into the falls behind the Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant and Sheriff's deputies are responding. The restaurant is located at 1227 Gilmore Road in Corfu.
One of Genesee County's grandest of the old barns collapsed today.
A good portion of the yellow barn next to the Stafford Fire Hall on Main Road, Stafford, simply gave way about 1:45 p.m.
Stafford Fire Chief Bill Plaisted said residents heard a lot of creaking coming from the old barn -- probably built in the 1830s -- all this morning.
Firefighters used a thermal-imaging camera to ensure nobody was trapped in the structure.
Plaisted said the barn was likely headed for demolition soon anyway. The owner wanted to donate it to the department for a controlled burn for firefighting practice, but Plaisted said before that could happen, workers would have been required to remove the shingles from the roof.
"Looking at it now, that wouldn't have been safe," Plaisted said.
He also recalled a local resident telling him how years ago there was a basketball court on the second floor. From the second floor to the ceiling, it was so high, he said, that nobody could throw a ball from the floor up into the rafters. That's how big the barn was.
In April 2010, I took a photo of the barn (bottom photo in this post) that proved pretty popular. UMMC purchased a large canvas print of the photograph to hang in its new surgical wing (the print has since been moved to another part of the hospital). To view a larger online version (or to purchase a print of the picture, click here).
Today the Indian Falls United Methodist Church held its annual Community Days -- Blueberry festival. The festival featured a car/tractor show. There were complimentary hot dogs, baked goods and other items for sale by the churches members.
At 4, the church held a kids peddle kart race for children of all ages to come out and race each other.
At 5, the church hosted a lawnmower race that was open to everyone to come out to and race.
The Indian Falls Fire Company also attended community days, bringing along two trucks with them.
A 10-year-old Oakfield boy with dire medical needs and his family will be the beneficiaries of a benefit next Saturday at Elroy D. Parkins Memorial Town Park. The public is encouraged to attend. The park is located at 37 Drake St. in Oakfield.
"Reach Out for Robbie" will feature entertainment, face painting, food, games, a yard sale, theme basket raffle and a raffle of others items, including gift certificates for goods and services. It runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 10.
Robbie Burdick suffers from severe scoliolis -- curvature of the spine -- as well as Larsen Syndrome. He uses a ventilator with trach and a feeding tube. His scoliosis has worsened this year, increasing the painful pressure on his chest wall.
Money raised at the event will help pay for medical equipment not covered by Medicaid, the family's travel expenses to and from the hospital, including parking fees and meals.
Themed gift basket donations would be greatly appreciated, along with items to raffle, gift certificates and gently used items for the yard sale.
For more information and/or to arrange for pick up of donations, contact:
To mail a donation, send to:
Robert J. Burdick
Supplemental Needs Trust
c/o Heidi Burdick
56 N. Pearl St.
Oakfield, NY 14125
A caller reports possible child abuse at Walmart and Sheriff's deputies are responding. A woman was allegedly in the parking lot striking a child.
UPDATE 2:19 p.m.: They left in a gray Dodge Caravan and officers have it stopped in front of a nearby pizzeria.
UPDATE 2:35 p.m.: The van's occupants and the 7-year-old are on their way now after speaking with law enforcement. This was apparently a case of "grandparents trying to control their out-of-control grandchild," said an officer. No report was taken.
Volunteers with the Elba Boosters began construction today on a new concession stand adjacent the Lancers' football field.
Above, John McCulley and Kevin Bezon working on a portion of the back wall.
Jeff Singer
John McCulley
A barn reportedly collapsed behind the Stafford Fire Hall. The caller does not believe anyone was inside, but a person was seen running from the barn. Stafford Fire Department is responding.
It's believed to be on property of the Kemp Family Trust Homestead, west of the hall.
"There's all sorts of activity at your fire hall and people running around so use caution," says the dispatcher.
No injuries are reported.
Press release:
Monday night, City Slickers will be the place to be. Several Buffalo Bills players will be in Batavia at the restaurant for a live filming for Sports Q Television, a Buffalo-based company. The event which starts at 9:30 p.m. will feature two DJs, and up to 30 Buffalo Bills players that will be arriving shortly after in a limousine, courtesy of Mancuso Limousine (sponsor). The filming will take place on the stage and will be open to the public to enjoy and watch, and will be followed up with an after party.
The names of the players can't be released because of contractual arrangments.
"There will be even more guys coming out. Some of them we can't announce until they show up, others we are just waiting on confirmation," said event coordinator Tim Walton. "We have invited the whole team, so anyone can show."
City Slickers is no stranger to hosting the Buffalo Bills. Walton has recently put on events that included Buffalo Bills players Stevie Johnson, Aaron Williams, Kelvin Sheppard, TJ Heath and Crezdon Butler. The Bills will be traveling from St. John Fisher College, where they have been staying for training camp. They have Tuesday off due to the PGA Tour.
This event is 18+ with proper ID and will run from 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Everyone is encouraged to wear Buffalo Bills gear and to come out for dinner before.
The restaurant, which is not usually open on Mondays will be opening at 4 p.m. and offering a full dinner menu.
For more info you can visit the event at Facebook.com/CitySlickersBar (https://www.facebook.com/events/185226108319418/)
High Voltage Tattoo has added an additional tattoo booth and another artist.
In response to increasing business, we at High Voltage Tattoo and Piercing have added another tattoo booth and hired another artist. For most of 2013 all of the tattoo artists at the shop have been booked in advance with appointments, so we have rarely been able to accommodate walk-ins. Hopefully with an additional new workspace and another tattoo artist, we will be able to get more walk-ins into a chair.
Jeremy is the latest artist to join the High Voltage crew. Jeremy tattooed in Buffalo for six years and has recently moved to Batavia. We now have five people working full time to better meet the needs of our customers.
High Voltage Tattoo is Genesee County's longest established tattoo and piercing shop. We blend old-school values with modern safety standards. Our tattoo artists create custom artwork, coverups or they can bring your own sketches to life. Our studio is a sanctuary of creative self-expression and we uphold a zero-attitude policy. Each client is treated with integrity and respect.
We are open 7 days a week, so stop in for a new tattoo or piercing or call (585) 201-1127 to book an appointment. Visit us online: http://www.hvolttattoo.com/
An ATV rider with two broken legs who spent at least eight hours lying in a ditch by the side of Meadville Road, Basom, before being found by another person remains hospitalized.
Arlyn L. Jonathan, 34, of Shanks Road, Alabama, was reportedly driving an ATV on Meadeville Road at 1 a.m., Thursday, when he lost control and went off the roadway.
As the ATV flipped over, Jonathan was ejected and struck a tree. His ATV struck another tree.
He apparently had no means of communication and wasn't found until about 8 a.m.
Alabama Fire Department respond to the scene and Jonathan was transported to ECMC by Mercy Flight.
A hospital staff member said Jonathan remains hospitalized but his condition is not listed on his records.
Deputy Lonnie Nati investigated the accident and reported the cause as "unsafe speed." He did not report any citations being issued.
A vehicle reportedly rolled over multiple times on the eastbound Thruway at mile marker 388. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding. Mercy Flight is put on standby.
UPDATE 12:47 p.m.: The chief said everyone's out of the vehicle, which went off the right shoulder, and they are being treated by medics on scene. The assignment is held to Engine #24. The Thruway accident is not far from the college.
UPDATE 12:54 p.m.: The town is back in service.
Christopher Paul Hoffman, 28, of Route 78, Java Center, is charged with petit larceny. Hoffman allegedly stole $34.93 in merchandise from Kmart.
Rachelle K. Mandigo, 42, of Holley, is charged with petit larceny. Mandigo was arrested by State Police on Wednesday for an alleged incident reported July 26 in the Town of Batavia. No further details released.
Michael C. Hill, 22, of Pike, is charged with petit larceny and unlawful possession of marijuana. Hill was arrested Wednesday for an alleged incident at a location on Veterans Memorial Drive. No further details released.
Jessica Mae Pfenninger, 31, of Jackson Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to pay fine on a reckless endangerment, 2nd, charge.
Here's the most viewed posts on The Batavian for July 2013
In July, there were 120,670 unique visitors to The Batavian, 526,817 total visits and 882,229 page views -- all new records.
Some 500 people participated in the first ever GLOW Corporate Cup 5K race, which started and ended in Centennial Park this evening.
Brandon Reaert, of Oakfield, won the race with a time of 17:43.
Runners signed up in teams from companies throughout the GLOW region.
Once the race was over, participates hung out in Centennial Park for After GLOW, the "largest office party" ever, at least locally. Companies were encouraged to set up their own tents and tables and enjoy live music.
Insource Urgent Care, the revolutionary health care provider that chose Batavia for the first location for its new chain of clinics, held its official grand opening today.
The celebration included a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Insource President Mark Celmer, center, Dr. Magdi Credi and VP of Operations Melissa Marsocci.
The high price of corn the past few years has local farmers trying to figure out how to increase their yields, according to Drew Klotzbach, owner of Alleghany Farm Services, and one way is to improve the drainage of the field.
The better the draining, especially in wet years such as this one, the more corn that will grow.
One of the specialties of Klotzbach's company is installing drainage tiles and he said he's seen an increase in demand locally in recent years.
"It's just a way to improve production," Klotzbach said. "They've got to improve the land. They're not making more land, so ..."
Klotzbach hosted an open house today for interested parties on a farm field next to his business lot on Route 77 in Alabama. Along with his son and employees, he demonstrated his GPS-guided trenching and tile-laying machines.
"It's all about getting the water off the ground faster," Klotzbach said.
The tiles -- more like hoses these days -- are perforated and collect water and drain it off into retention ponds.
"In dry years, it will even help bring up water from the bottom," Klotzbach said.
A third suspect has been accused of participating in the June 1 burglary of the Sherwin-Williams paint store on Liberty Street.
Nicholas J. Adkins, 22, of no permanent address, has been charged with burglary, 2nd.
Adkins is currently an inmate on unrelated charges in the Genesee County Jail.
Today, Adkins was arraigned on the new charge and returned to the jail.
Previously arrested were Michael J. Elmore, 22, and Rebecca G. Morse, 21, both of 130 Bank St., Batavia.
Previously:
Glossary |
|
Disruptive Innovation: An innovation through technology or process that takes root in an underserved portion of the market to create new business opportunities. Incumbent: The market-leading business in an industry. Unmet Need: When a business planner identifies a hole in the marketplace, where consumers -- either consciously or unconsciously -- have a need that a new product or service can meet. Job to be Done: Much like an unmet need, the jobs-to-be-done metaphor helps a business planner target a market segment for a new product or service. The job-to-be-done metaphor is based on the idea that customers don't really buy a product or service, they hire the product or service to help with a specific task they want to accomplish. Clayton Christensen: Harvard Business School professor and creator of the term "disruptive innovation." His groundbreaking works are "Innovator's Dilemma" and "Innovator's Solution." He's also written a book on innovation in health care, "The Innovator's Prescription." |
From the perspective of the folks who run Insource Urgent Care in Downtown Batavia, their first-of-its-kind clinic is apparently seen as a competitive threat by the executives at United Memorial Medical Center.
A threat that must be crushed.
If their perception is correct, it highlights the fear disruptive innovators can strike in the hearts of incumbent businesses, especially if that business has enjoyed a monopoly position in the market.
Since UMMC officials are not talking about the tensions between Insource and UMMC, we only have the perspective of Insource's owners, which they're willing to discuss, and is also part of a federal anti-trust suit filed by Insource on June 25.
The suit alleges that UMMC conspired with HealthNow, the region's BlueCross BlueShield franchise, to eradicate the hosptial's pesky new competitor.
UMMC, according to the lawsuit, has even tried to muscle other health care providers in the county in an effort to deny Insource the partners it needs to deliver its services.
HealthNow is the dominant health insurance company in Western New York and UMMC has held a monopoly position for emergency and hospital care in Genesee County since the year 2000 merger of Genesee Memorial and St. Jerome's.
Melissa Marsocci, VP of operations for Insource, who is a native of Batavia and well versed in the literature of disruptive innovation, said she wasn't surprised by the response from UMMC to the arrival of her new company. She wishes it had been different, that cooperation rather than competition would have been the watchword, but that's not the case.
"Being from here and knowing the corporate culture over there, I knew we weren't going to be welcomed with open arms," Marsocci said. "Whenever I go anywhere else (to open a clinic), I don't know that, but here, we're just little bugs to them."
Insource is a company designed around innovation. It's model uses more efficient processes for delivering patient care and employs technology to reduce costs while improving quality.
Insource is also willing and able to deliver what it believes is world-class care while accepting lower profit margins per patient.
The result, according to Marsocci, is faster and easier access to top specialists and lower costs for uninsured patients.
The Lawsuit |
Key points raised in Insource Development Services of Batavia, LLC. vs. HealthNow New York, Inc. and United Memorial Medical Center.
|
In its lawsuit, Insource claims a typical emergency room visit to UMMC costs at least $1,500. The same service through Insource would cost $150.
"I think people deserve a choice," Marsocci said. "Isn't free enterprise what America is all about? Competition is good. It ups the quality, or should, so why not? Why should United Memorial have a monopoly?"
The typical urgent care model is kind of like a doc-in-the-box. The clinics are usually only opened in high-volume communities -- such as well-populated suburbs or densely populated urban neighborhoods. They treat minor injuries and illnesses and do very little in the way of referrals. They're not the place to go if you're seriously ill.
Insource can provide health care as basic as a physical for a high school athlete, up to arranging a consultation with a heart surgeon.
In other words, from a patient perspective, the company can do everything UMMC does, but without the overhead.
When a business planner with an eye toward disruptive innovation looks at a potential opportunity, the planner will try to identify an unmet need and a job to be done.
The unmet need in Genesee County, according to Marsocci, is the lack of top-tier specialists. It's not that they're not here, but there are fewer of them.
And, many local residents -- like it or not, it's true, notes Marsocci -- also lack faith in specialist referrals through UMMC.
This isn't a problem unique to Genesee County or UMMC. It's common in rural counties across the United States.
For the local patient who needs or wants care with a top-tier specialist, the only option until now has been to drive 30 or 40 minutes to Rochester or Buffalo.
"The care here, unfortunately, and I can say this because I've lived in Genesee County all my life, the care here has been substandard for years," Marsocci said. "I don't mean that disparagingly, but I'm saying, call a spade a spade. When I need care beyond primary care, I travel. I have been in those situations where I used a local specialist and it didn't end positively for me, and I've had those times where I was lucky. But you learn through a couple of experiences and you're not going to do it again, so I go east or west."
The job to be done, then, for Insource, is to connect patients who need specialized service with specialists without making them drive for miles and miles.
Computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, closed-circuit cameras, LCD screens and the Internet -- all the tools of telemedicine -- means those miles, and the wasted time that goes with them, disappear.
The example Marsocci used was of a patient who came to Insource in early Jully complaining of debilitating back pain.
Initially, the concern was that he had a kidney stone, but a CT scan found a growth on his spine. A surgeon and specialist in spinal problems who will soon be one of Insources subtenants was consulted using telemedicine tools. The doctor confirmed the diagnosis and told Insource to have the patient call him on his mobile phone the next day -- July 4 -- for a follow-up consultation.
Two weeks ago, the patient had surgery to remove the growth.
"If that man had gone to any other urgent care, they would not have wanted to spend any more time on him than they had to," Marsocci said. "If they didn't have access to a CT then they knew they were wasting time on him and not getting paid. They would just want to get him out the door. He would have to go to the emergency room then, which means he's going to spend a lot of money for something we did perfectly well here."
"It's pretty exciting to say he had surgery probably before he even would have seen the spine surgeon had he went anywhere else," Marsocci added.
All of these improvements -- better access to specialists, lower costs -- just make good business sense.
"Why can't the people in this community have the same level of care as the people in Buffalo or the people in Rochester?" Marsocci asked.
The response from local doctors to Insource, even those associated with UMMC, has been uniformly positive, Marsocci said. Insource refers patients to local doctors and to UMMC on a daily basis. The goal is to get the patient the best treatment possible, and that often means local doctors and local specialists are the best resources for local patients.
And local health care providers have found Insource a valuable resource, even referring patients to Insource, she said.
If all this makes so much sense, why aren't established urgent care companies around the nation providing the same service? Why isn't UMMC?
Mark Celmer |
|
Yesterday, Mark Celmer, president of Insource, spoke with The Batavian's news partner, WBTA, about the lawsuit. Here's what he said. “I do find it absolutely reprehensible that any member of Genesee County that’s insured by HealthNow can travel 40 miles to Erie County and go to any of 22 urgent care sites and be fully covered for their urgent care visit, but they cannot come to the newest one on Main Street, Batavia. I find that just absolutely reprehensible.” “I would like HealthNow to say, ‘Genesee County residents: if you want to go to the urgent care center at the Jerome Center, if you want to go the urgent care center in Le Roy, if you want to go to the emergency room at United Memorial, or if you want to go to Insource Urgent Care Center on Main Street, Godspeed, let’s get going.’ ” |
As we said, we lack UMMC's perspective on this competitive climate, but we do know about the patterns of disruptive innovation.
In any classic case of disruptor vs. the disrupted, the incumbents either under-value the disruption or feel trapped by their established business model. The incumbent sees no way to extricate itself from its present business model, no matter how threatening the disruptive innovation might be.
Newspapers, for example, have found it difficult to transition to an online news model because higher profits are found in their dead tree editions.
While it costs less to produce digital news, the revenues are also substantially lower -- The New York Times publisher once said it was like converting print dollars into digital dimes -- and profit margins are slender to nonexistent (especially if newspapers want to maintain their current newsroom cost structure). Even as readers flee from printed newspapers, incumbent publishers are loathe to go to an online-only business model.
It's very difficult for an incumbent to give up a profitable line of business in favor of a business model that means lower revenue and less profit, especially when successful models are few and far between.
Sailing ship builders couldn't do it when the steam engines came along; Detroit couldn't do it when Japanese cars hit the market; mainframe computer makers couldn't do it when personal computers were first being sold; and, Kodak couldn't do it when digital cameras became popular (and Kodak INVENTED the digital camera).
"We're trying to make sense of where everything should be -- lowering costs, improving quality, improving satisfaction, improving access," Marsocci said. "That's where we find ourselves as disruptive innovators. Nobody in the urgent care business wants to spend the amount of time that we did putting together a formal telemedicine program or the way we do things with continuity of care, having subtenant specialists in our center.
"They want the low-hanging fruit," she added. "It can be a very lucrative business, so they want to find a place in a heavy-traffic shopping plaza and just put up a center and see how many patients they can see each day and make as much money as they possibly can. Where we're really focused on what we're preaching. Continuity of care."
NOTE: Early yesterday evening, The Batavian sent an e-mail to Colleen Flynn, spokeswoman for UMMC, and outlined the nature of the article we were writing about the lawsuit and invited UMMC to comment on the topics raised in this article. The Batavian received no response to the e-mail.
Copyright © 2008-2022 The Batavian. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
