POTSDAM – After providing medical care to St. Lawrence Health’s patients for the past 20 years, Jason Lorenc, MD, is turning his title of St. Lawrence Health (SLH) Emergency Department Service Line Director over to colleague Justin MacKinnon, MD.

As Dr. Lorenc leaves SLH and moves on to the next phase of his medical career, he pointed out overseeing the Emergency Departments (ED) at Canton-Potsdam Hospital (CPH), Gouverneur Hospital (GH), and Massena Hospital (MH) has been immensely rewarding, and he could not have done the job without his team.

“Medicine, and Emergency Medicine in particular, is a team sport. A single person does not ‘save a life’ in the E.D. It takes a whole team of doctors, nurses, advanced practice providers, and techs to do the job we do on an everyday basis,” Dr. Lorenc said. “Similarly, progress in the administrative world requires a whole team of people moving in the right direction.

“I take great pride in the team of people we have built here, both clinically and administratively. For this reason, I fully expect Dr. MacKinnon and Dr. Coates to continue to grow the practice of Emergency Medicine throughout SLH,” Dr. Lorenc said of his replacement Dr. MacKinnon, and of Ryan Coates, DO, who was chosen to step into Dr. MacKinnon’s role as Canton-Potsdam Hospital Medical Director. Both doctors were hand-selected by Dr. Lorenc to fill these positions.

“I couldn’t be more flattered and humbled by being selected to serve in this role,” Dr. MacKinnon said. “I don’t believe Dr. Lorenc could ever be replaced, but I am committed to taking on this responsibility and trying to fill some big shoes by continuing to drive excellence in emergency care in the North Country.”

Frederic Laporte, MD, will continue to serve as the Massena Hospital ED Medical Director, and Adam Quinn, MD, will continue to serve as the Gouverneur Hospital ED Medical Director.

Dr. MacKinnon pointed out Dr. Lorenc recruited him to SLH and has been a friend and mentor for many years.

“As a supervisor and a colleague, Dr. Lorenc has shown me the importance of leading through example. He has been steadfast in his dedication to this hospital system and our communities. He has shown me the importance of prioritizing the needs of the patients, while balancing the needs of the providers, and the needs of the greater hospital system. He has also helped me tremendously in developing into the leader I am today, and has given me the tools to succeed in this new role,” he commented.

Dr. Lorenc has been involved in a number of high profile projects during his two decades with SLH. He was instrumental in the Emergency Department renovations at CPH in 2010, GH in 2018, the on-going project at MH, and the current expansion construction project at CPH.

He was a member of the leadership team that led to the merger of SLH with Rochester Regional Health, which included the transition to CareConnect, a program that has allowed all three hospitals to have a unified medical record system across the region.

“The journey for CPH to become a Trauma and Stroke Center was extremely important ,as I firmly believe those two projects elevated the care for all patients coming to SLH, and not solely for trauma and stroke patients,” Dr. Lorenc said.

“I feel my greatest accomplishment with the system has been to successfully staff the Urgent Care centers in Potsdam and Canton, and the Emergency Departments at Gouverneur Hospital, and Massena Hospital without having to resort to outside staffing agencies,” he stated. “There are not very many small rural health systems that have been able to do this on their own. This accomplishment has allowed for a unified group to provide the ‘safety net’ care for this region. It has facilitated a coordinated approach to the emergency care patients receive at a lower cost and higher quality than with outside staffing agencies. Simply put, when you are able to recruit doctors and advanced practice providers who live locally and become invested in a community, the quality of care goes up.”

Dr. MacKinnon explained the EDs at all three hospitals are staffed with residency-trained, board-certified emergency physicians, and credentialed advanced practice providers. These highly skilled providers rotate throughout the hospitals to provide emergency medicine care.

“The importance of this is to raise the bar on quality at all of our sites. Different physicians and APPs bring different levels of expertise and experience, which leads to better outcomes for patients,” he said. “This allows for increased flexibility in staffing our sites and to ensure we are able to provide consistent, high quality care 24/7. This also benefits our providers who experience the challenges and successes of different practice environments with different resources and needs.”

Under the guidance of Dr. Lorenc, SLH also started an Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Emergency Medicine Internship, which has allowed the system to train 11 APPs to be proficient in Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care. The training program has additionally allowed them to achieve national certification in Emergency Medicine.

As Dr. MacKinnon steps into his new role, he admits he is excited to see the continuation of programs started by his predecessor, and to see projects on the horizon come to fruition.

“The future of emergency care in the North Country has never been brighter. We are eagerly anticipating our new ED at CPH to be completed next year, and we are putting the tools in place to ensure that SLH continues to be the best place to get care, and the best place to give care,” he said. “We are continuing to recruit qualified physicians and advanced practice providers, expand services, improve facilities, and stay current with our community’s emergency needs.

“I am proud of how much our health system and our emergency service line has grown. Our provider group has never been stronger, and our future has never looked better,” Dr. MacKinnon continued. “SLH is the premiere place to receive emergency care. As part of our communities, our SLH hospitals are where my friends, family, and loved ones turn to when they need medical services. I am excited to help drive us forward and to continue the culture of excellence that Dr. Lorenc has exemplified during his time here.”

To learn more about SLH Emergency Medicine services, visit https://www.stlawrencehealthsystem.org/Services/Emergency,