Fox looking at ex-grocery to host clinic

Staff Report

October 15, 2008 04:00 am

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A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital is speaking with Francis Jenkins III about using part of the former Great American grocery store in Delhi for a clinic, a hospital official said Tuesday.

Brian Domion announced in June he was closing Domion's Great American on Main Street because business dropped off. At the time, he said he would offer the property for sale. Reached at his home Tuesday, Domion said he had no comment on the status of the property.

Neither Jenkins nor an associate returned a telephone call to an office in New York City on Tuesday.

The site at 69 Main St. has visibility, parking spaces and is in the business district of the village, said Maggie Barnes, spokeswoman for the hospital in Oneonta.

Barnes said talks are "under way" with Jenkins. Discussions are about using 4,200 square feet of the building, she said.

The next step would be to submit a certificate of need application to the state Health Department.

Fox was recently awarded $500,000 in a state grant for its project to open a clinic in Delhi. Fox President John Remillard previously said the targeted timetable is to open the clinic in late spring or early summer.

Glenn Nealis, director of economic development for Delaware County, said Fox's presence in Delhi will meet a need and be ``great.''

However, since the Great American site is in prime commercial space, having more retailers in that location would have been preferable, he said Tuesday.