New medical practice opens in Lansing

Pine Point Medical has opened a practice focused on adult primary care and telehealth in the new building on Triphammer Road, just south of Peruville Road.

Physician Assistant Tess MacQueen will see most patients first. Her husband, Dr. Douglas MacQueen, is board certified in internal medicine and will oversee the practice and the care provided. The two have been in the Ithaca area for about 10 years and decided 18 months ago to open a remote medicine practice in Lansing for adults.

“We can and will see people in the office, but we can also do a lot by telemedicine,” Tess said. “I’ve been doing physicals, for instance, seeing people by telemedicine for their first visit, which involves a lot of talking and takes about 40 minutes. Then, I can order lab tests and such for them, and then, we will see each other in person in a week or so to review the lab results and do things like take blood pressure. This minimizes their time in the office and takes about 20 minutes.”

Registration, consent and other forms are online and can be completed and signed without contact, according to Tess. Likewise, appointments can be made from the practice’s website.

Douglas is also board certified in infectious diseases and took particular care in designing the office to reduce the chance of infection, including using hospital-grade HEPA filters in the air circulation systems.

“We can also do ‘urgent care,’” Tess said. “If, for instance, you have a primary physician but just want to get a rash checked out, that’s also something we can do through telemedicine. That solves a lot of problems like transportation, taking time off from work, getting childcare.”

Douglas is from Potsdam. He is a Cornell University grad and went to medical school at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. His expertise in infectious diseases has kept him busy over the past seven months consulting with local schools and businesses in operating safely during the pandemic.

Tess is from Massachusetts. She has a master’s degree from the University of New England in Portland, Maine. She worked at Cayuga Medical Center in the emergency room for five years and spent the last five years with a local dermatology practice.

To become a physician assistant, she had to take a board certification exam at the outset and then is recertified every 10 years. A “PA” has the same continuing education requirements as a physician.

“Our role is to see the patients with the doctor as a backup,” she said. “We run everything by them: ‘Is this OK?’ The longer you have been doing it, the more independent you become. It’s a pretty symbiotic relationship that provides good access to care.”

Tess described the couple’s passion for their work.

“We’re a husband and wife team who practice medicine,” she said. “We talk about every case at breakfast and dinner.”

The two health professionals saw an opening for their practice in the Lansing area.

“There are not a lot of small, independent, primary care offices in town,” Tess said. “We are local and family-run and are here to develop long-term relationships.”

Their July opening was delayed several months as the pandemic created shortages in medical equipment. They are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and accept most insurance.

“We are also going to give discounts to people who don’t have insurance and have to pay cash,” Tess said. “It’s a way to make things more affordable.”

The 12,000-square-foot building is owned by SEE Associates. Construction began last fall, and the building welcomed its first tenant in July. Along with Pine Point, a private wealth and real estate management company has taken offices there.