Hartford Hospital Family Health Center to Open Next Week

Walk inside Hartford Hospital Family Health Center in Avon and you will no longer find any trace of the old Blockbuster layout or any DVDs, VHS tapes, video games, candy or popcorn. But you will find a place that is still welcoming to the whole family.

The new medical facility, which opens Oct. 26, offers urgent and primary care, as well as occupational medicine. Walk-in patients are accepted. The health center is also certified to conduct drug screens. Hartford Specialists is also going to move into the facility.

Dr. Spencer G. Erman is moving into the new facility from the Hartford Medical Group office in the Avon Health and Wellness Center on Simsbury Road in Avon, where he has been for nearly 11 years. Prior to that, he was a doctor in Denver for 13 years.

"We can take care of 85 to 90 percent of the reasons people come to the doctor," Erman said.

Doctors Chi Kim, Sandra Quintero and Sarah Daniak will continue to practice from the Simsbury Road office. Some Harford Medical Group staff are transferring to the new medical center.

Dr. Ali Torabzadeh is a new doctor joining the practice. Both practice family medicine, including primary and urgent care and they can see patients from newborns to adults. Many of Erman's current patients will continue to come to him at the new facility.

Terence Williams and David Garry are the two physician's assistants for the new practice and Katherine Taylor will serve as nurse practitioner.

"The goal is to expand medical staff," Erman said.

People can already book appointments by calling the Hartford Medical Group phone number at 1-860-284-5111. Come Oct. 26, appointments can be made by calling the new number, which is 1-860-696-2150.

Erman recommended calling ahead to minimize wait time. He said walk-ins are welcome and that the family health center will do its best to see patients the same day they call for an appointment or come in.

Hartford Medical Group offices, which are affiliated with the family health center, have access to the same patient electronic medical files. Patients will also eventually be able to log into a database to see their own medical history files and send non-urgent questions to doctors in a manner more secure than using email. That service is not available yet.

The medical center also is set up to do digital x-rays, which are read on computer monitors, though prints can be made if necessary.

There are 19 exam rooms. The motion sensor lights and paperless medical records and x-rays reflect environmentally friendly efforts.

The facility, located at 339 West Main St., next to Friendly's, will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.