➤ EDIE WINDSOR, from p.36
The center’s primary care is
anchored around Dr. Eric Lella,
the center’s medical director and
a board certifi ed family medicine
physician with specialization in
Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine
“We believe you should always
start with a good primary care
provider,” Chaloner said. “That
person becomes the coach for your
health care,”
Lella, an Osteopathic physician
who focuses on treating the whole
person as an interconnected unit
(mind, body, spirit) along with Dr.
Eric Finn, an infectious disease
specialist, and Dr. Paul Garson,
a psychiatrist, are the attending
physicians. The center’s longtime
infectious disease physician’s assistant
is Jennifer Jolie (15 years).
“We are an LGBTQ affi rming
practice,” Lella said. “We offer primary
care services for anyone in
the LGBTQ population, but we
also provide primary care services
for patients who are allies or people
not in that community — there is
no reverse discrimination here. I
have many OMT patients — some
who have HIV but who aren’t LGBTQ,
some who are straight and
don’t have HIV. We are an open
practice for the community and for
whoever wants to establish here.”
A New Jersey native, Lella said
he came out east for “the unique integrative
residency program Stony
Brook Southampton hospital.” Lella
has been with his husband for 8
1/2 years—they married last year
and live in Hampton Bays.
Lella is particularly enthusiastic
about the center’s new location.
“The benefi ts are that we have
radiology services in this building
and a number of different specialties
and specialists, GI, allergist,
cardiology — all under the Stony
Brook Medicine roof.”
He describes the staff of 10 as
“absolutely wonderful — some of
the coolest and nicest people I have
gotten a chance to work with.”
Jimmy Mack, a Southampton
resident and EMT volunteer who
has been with the center since it
opened and who tested positive for
HIV in 1987, said the re-opening
and new expansion is both personal
and emotional.
“They have literally saved my life
Join NYC businesses
making the shift to more
on a couple of occasions,” Mack said.
“The new place is bigger, better and
beautifully located. I’m so excited
about it. Everyone who works there
is like family — that’s how they
treat you. I can’t say enough good
things about them. We are blessed
to have them out here.”
For Kasen-Windsor, the support
of the center is crucial. To
that end, she and Southampton
Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman
have established the Windsor
Heart Project — a heart-shaped
stone platform of interlocking
smaller hearts on the lawn outside
of Southampton Town Hall,
where many couples are married.
Proceeds from purchasing a heart
(where you can customize an inscription)
directly benefi t the Edie
Windsor Healthcare Center.
June 20 will be proclaimed “Edie
Windsor Day” in New York — a fi tting
tribute on Windsor’s birthday.
“It’s not just about Edie, it’s about
the LGBTQ community, it’s about
women,” Kasen-Windsor said. “Edie
was a genius, she coded, she worked
for IBM. She was in the closet for all
those years, she was very low key
until probably the late 1980s.”
The goal of the center is to open
up the doors to expanded care
while also respecting privacy.
“Sometimes people even on the
East End of Long Island feel it’s a
small town and people want to
know their confi dentiality is being
protected and that they can feel
safe and comfortable where they are
coming for care,” Coley said. “We really
try to stress that we are open
and welcome and will help you and
protect your privacy as well.”
Chaloner said “we will always
accept donations,” but emphasized
“the importance of word of mouth
early on” to support the center.
“We want to see it grow and we
like feedback,” he added. “Visibility
is very important. In the next few
weeks we encourage people to fi ll
out the totally anonymous survey
— the more data we have, the better
we can plan for the future and
work with our partner organizations
to build better services.”
The Edie Windsor Healthcare
Center is located at 182 W. Montauk
Hwy. Bldg. B, Suite D, Hampton
Bays, NY. (631) 287-5990. For
more information visit stonybrookmedicine.
edu/LGBTQ.
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