Emergencies

The Emergency Medical Treatment & Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires nearly all hospital emergency departments to provide appropriate help regardless of citizenship, legal status, or ability to pay. Health-Alliance Hospital (formerly Kingston Hospital) emergency room, 396 Broadway, is always open. Phone: 845-334-2890.

Urgent Care

In some cases, urgent care clinics may be required to provide free treatment. Local clinics include Emergency One, weekdays 8-8 and weekends 8-4 in Kingston, Hyde Park, and New Windsor.

Optum (formerly CareMount Medical) has clinics in Kingston/Lake Katrine, Carmel, New Paltz, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Fishkill, and more. Hours vary by site, call 844-484-6564.

If you need insurance

New York’s health care program, NY State of Health, has periodic open enrollment; learn more or enroll online here in English, Spanish, and Chinese. To enroll, immigrants need income information, an identity document (passport, drivers license, etc.) and one of the following: Action of Notice I797C with A numbers, an application for an Action of Notice, or a work permit or application for work permit.

MiSN Navigator Services can help you understand your options for getting heath insurance for you and your family. They have an office at 70 Lindsley Ave. in Kingston. You can contact Spanish-speaking healthcare navigator Luis Ocasio III at 845-238-9691 or locasio@misn-ny.org.

Fidelis Healthcare offers sign up online or by phone. Fidelis representatives Nicole Tapia (Ulster) and Ruth Stratton (Sullivan) have worked with undocumented individuals, asylum seekers, and migrant workers. Ms. Tapia (845-489-6265) is bilingual Spanish/ English and understands some Q’eqchi’. On Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., a Fidelis truck stops on Broadway across from The Kingston Meat Market near UPAC) to enroll children and sometimes adults who are eligible. Questions: Rey Ortiz 845-418-0224 (se habla espanol).

The New York State of Health Navigator Program can help families with children under the age of 19 get insurance. A bilingual (Spanish/English) health care navigator based in Kingston meets privately with individuals and families to identify available services and assist with enrollment. Call 845-372-3233 for an appointment.

The Public Policy and Education Fund has bilingual certified navigators who offer free help in finding affordable health plans that meet your needs. Evening and weekend hours available. Call 800-803-8508 or click here, complete an easy form, and a navigator will contact you.

Community Health Centers

The following clinics deliver comprehensive, culturally competent, high-quality health care in multiple languages. Many also offer pharmacy, mental health, substance use disorder, and dental services. CHCs provide care regardless of ability to pay; any charges are on a sliding scale. They are directed by boards that include patients, public and private non-profits, and tribal and faith-based groups. Interpreters are typically available. No one is turned away from these clinics which receive federal funding.

Josh MacPhee, Justseeds

Mental health & substance abuse

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Dental Care

Open Door Family Medical Center believes people deserve care regardless of ability to pay and offers a sliding fee scale for all patients with or without health insurance. 16 W. Bridge St., Saugerties, 845-633-6248.

Immunization

U.S. law requires children 18 years and younger to be vaccinated against childhood diseases. The Ulster County Department of Health, 239 Golden Hill Ln., Kingston, provides free vaccines for children and adults.

A parent or guardian must accompany children. Call 845-340-3070 for details or to schedule an appointment.

Or, contact NY State Vaccines for Children, a federally-funded program that provides free vaccines to eligible children. Phone 800-543-7468 or email nyvfc@health.ny.gov.

Covid update

As of fall 2022, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recommends that except in unusual cases everyone 6 months and older get a Covid-19 vaccination and boosters to help protect against the disease. Use their website to search for vaccination locations by age and zip code.

Or, visit Ulster County’s Covid-19 Vaccination Resource Center (English and Spanish) for information on when and where to get a vaccine or to request an at-home vaccination. Find Covid-19 testing locations here.

Institute for Family Health has sites in Ellenville, Kingston, New Paltz, Port Ewen (telehealth only), and, Hyde Park (Dutchess County). Hours vary by office. Services include primary care, dental, women’s health, pediatrics, mental health, diabetes care, and HIV/AIDS. Plus: Home Visiting Services for Families who live in Ulster County, Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, or Beacon, and are expecting a baby or have an infant under three months old.

Damian Family Care Centers provides primary health and dental care in Ellenville (845-647-2000) and Rhinebeck (845-516-1002).

Sun River Health treats illness, infections, and injuries and provides annual check-ups, vaccinations and immunizations, chronic care management, back-to-school physicals, blood pressure, and more. 1240 Ulster Ave., #104 (Hudson Valley Mall), 845-768-1990, and 1 Paradies Lane, New Paltz, 845-255-1760.

Garnet Medical Center offers primary and specialty care for children and adults through Garnet Health Doctors at six sites in Sullivan County and two in Orange County. Care is available on a sliding scale or free. Financial aid applications are available here in English and Spanish.

More free and low cost resources

MiSN (Maternal Infant Services Network) has offices in Kingston, Liberty, and Newburgh. The Kingston office provides a range of wellness services, resources, education, informal counseling, social support, and advocacy during and between pregnancies including prenatal and childbirth education and bilingual community health workers for expectant and new moms. MiSN also offers youth development services such as teen pregnancy prevention. Kingston office: 845-861-3573, 70 Lindsley Avenue. Contacts for women’s services: Linnette Vargas-Gonzalez, lvargasgonzalez@misn-ny.org; Yma Melendez-Sandoval, ymelendez-sandoval@misn-ny.org; Elizabeth Pelaez, epelaez@misn-ny.org. For youth services: Selena Hughes, shughes@misn-ny.org.

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York has clinics in Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, and Hudson. They never turn people away if they can’t pay. For those who are uninsured, fees are based on household income. Services typically include general health care regardless of gender or sexual orientation, birth control (including the morning-after pill), pregnancy testing and services; HIV and STD testing, treatment, and vaccines; and abortion services.

Ulster County Office for the Aging (website in English and Spanish) offers free, information, counseling, assistance, and advocacy on Medicare, private health insurance, and health plans for those over age 60. To set up an appointment or arrange a community presentation, call 845-340-3456. Office: 1003 Development Court, Kington.

Ulster County Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) offers food vouchers, nutrition counseling, health screenings, breastfeeding support, and more. The main office is at 239 Golden Hill Ln., Kingston. Programs run in New Paltz, Saugerties, and Ellenville once every two weeks. Phone for all sites: 845-340-3965. Eligible New York residents (you need not be a citizen) include: pregnant women, infants and children up to 5 years old, mothers of babies up to six months or up to one year old if mother is nursing. There are income eligibility requirements.

Health Care is a Human Right (HCHR) holds a free, walk-in, clinic the second Thursday of each month at The Lace Mill, 165 Cornell St., Kingston, and occasional free clinics in Phoenicia (518-989-6216) and Woodstock (845-253-0355). Contacts: Susan Weeks, founder and physician’s assistant, 845-246-5783; Reenie, Kingston clinic, 845-750-8159; 845-481-3186, HCHRNY@gmail.com. Please note: alternative and holistic methods — e.g., acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, massage — only. No medical doctors.