HomeSteady Health brings new, direct approach to primary health care in Trumansburg area

Matthew Simone, a longtime nurse practitioner trained in family practice, wants to facilitate access to premium, direct health care in Trumansburg and the surrounding areas. 

To do so, he recently opened HomeSteady Health Direct Primary Care, his own practice, which consists of a membership-based model that returns to the basic relationship between patient and provider. 

“There is a severe deficit of good primary care in the area,” Simone said. “So, I decided to try a different approach that allows for a lot more access to your provider. I wanted to be able to offer more to my patients without the time restraints and the profit-over-patient care mentality of corporate medicine.”

The program works outside of the traditional insurance system. It features both traditional and new ways of providing care, including house calls and telemedicine. Membership includes features such as same- or next-day appointments, direct messaging with your provider and urgent guidance, among other services.

“Under our current health care system, you often are forced to come into the office, for a lot of little things that aren’t really necessary. You take off a day at work and schedule six weeks out,” Simone said. “With our model, patients can text me directly, they can call me directly. We can do a lot through telemedicine and other ways of facilitating care.”

The direct-care model, Simone said, is nimble and allows for more precise and thoughtful care.

“When you’re there, you’re waiting in a waiting room for two, three hours to get five minutes with your provider, and you’re trying to cram all your complaints into that short amount of time,” Simone noted. “Those professionals are so overwhelmed and overburdened that they have to kind of rush through everything just to get on to the next patient.”

Simone — who has been in the world of health care for more than 23 years, 15 of which have been as a nurse practitioner — said that system also benefits health care professionals. Most recently, Simone was in charge of helping to set up and lead urgent care clinics in Philadelphia and locally. 

“[The direct provider model] allows me to have a lot of time and agency in how I can manage my patients,” Simone said. “I’m not having to seek 25 patients a day just to keep the lights on.”

An initial meet-and-greet is free of charge, Simone said. Membership fees vary, depending on age and with the potential for discounted rates for families. Simone also allows for drop-in rates on a case-by-case basis. More information can be found here: https://www.homesteadyhealth.com/about.

“It’s essentially just like a gym membership or a Netflix membership,” Simone said. “You don’t have to worry about any co-pays. Anytime you need something, you just show up when you need it.”

As Simone looks toward the future at his office at 1859 Trumansburg Rd., he is getting ready to launch a men’s health line in the near future. 

“That includes a lot of the challenging mental health issues and others, like testosterone replacement therapy and sexual dysfunction, helping to facilitate care along those lines,” Simone said. “Again, that’s something that the insurance companies aren’t really doing an adequate job of addressing.”

For Simone, a direct provider program is the future.

“People are just getting more and more frustrated with the system and are really not feeling cared for. Not just here, but everywhere,” he added. “We’re rural, and there’s just not enough people here to take care of folks, so that adds to it. People are really just kind of tired of feeling like a number and tired of feeling like they’re just getting chewed up by the system.”

Ulysses Connection appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @ezvelazquez.

In brief:

Nature walk at the Habitat Nature Preserve

Naturalists Marc Devokaitis and Marvin Pritts will host a nature walk at the Habitat Nature Preserve in Trumansburg and Ulysses, which is approximately 30 acres of forest off of Salo Drive, on Sunday, May 19, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Residents joining the walk will explore the ever-changing habitat and learn to identify some of the wildlife native to the area. The Habitat Nature Preserve has a mixture of native and invasive plants, diverse trees and multiple fungal communities that several bird, mammal and reptile species call home.

Interested parties are encouraged to RSVP at clerk@townofulyssesny.gov, and park at the Trumansburg Farmers Market at 69 W. Main St. From there, walk over to the trailhead at 23 Salo Dr.   

Flood photos in Ulysses

Town of Ulysses is seeking photos recent flooding events in the following areas:

• Agard Road at the first stream crossing west of Jacksonville Road (42°31’27.7″N, 76°37’06.1″W)
• Curry Road as it crosses over Bolter Creek, just west of the Waterburg Road intersection (42°31’22.0″N, 76°40’05.2″W)
• Garrett Road immediately south of the Houghton Road intersection (42°30’44.2″N, 76°33’16.5″W)
• Iradell Road immediately east of Buck Hill (or Town Line Road) at the intersection (42°28’40.6″N, 76°41’29.5″W)
• Maplewood Road at the hairpin turn and the Maplewood Point Road intersection (42°30’10.5″N, 76°32’40.0″W)
• Reynolds Road at the creek crossing to the immediate east of Podunk Road (42°29’52.9″N, 76°39’09.2″W)

Photos can be emailed to Ulysses Second Deputy Supervisor and Budget Officer Michelle Wright at mwright@townofulyssesny.gov. They can also be dropped off at the clerk’s office.

Ulysses Philomathic Library Movie Night

The Ulysses Bee Friendly Community Committee is hosting a special documentary film screening of “My Garden Of A Thousand Bees” on May 20 at the library.

More information on the film can be found at: https://www.mygardenofathousandbees.com/