Jill Johnson VanKuren of MedStar Health System in Maryland will be the new president and CEO of Saratoga Hospital.

She starts Sept. 19.

Michael J. Toohey, Saratoga Hospital board of trustees chairperson, announced VanKuren’s appointment in July, citing her 17 years of experience with the largest integrated healthcare system in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. 

 VanKuren succeeds Angelo Calbone, who will retire in August after 16 years of significant investment in programs, facilities and talent. He is credited with leading the transformation of the hospital and healthcare in the Saratoga region.

Most recently, VanKuren served as senior vice president of operations and chief operating officer at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, one of 10 MedStar hospitals.

 “From her first interview, Jill impressed us with her understanding of the vital role of a community hospital in a larger health system,” Toohey said. “She shares our commitment to maintaining Saratoga Hospital’s reputation for exceptional quality and personal attention while bringing the benefits of the Albany Med Health System to our patients and community.”

 “I have a deep respect for the community and the culture that the people of Saratoga Hospital have built over the years,” VanKuren said. “I look forward to building on that strong foundation as we evolve to support the future needs of the community. I am honored to have been selected to lead this team.”

 At MedStar, VanKuren held leadership positions at both the corporate and hospital levels for a system with more than 300 care locations and 31,000 employees. As an assistant vice president with MedStar corporate strategic planning, she developed system service lines and business models. 

Dr. Lisa Vollendorf, incoming SUNY Empire State College president,began her tenure on July 1 at the college’s Saratoga Springs location.

Vollendorf will take over for Officer in Charge Nathan Gonyea, who will continue his work at the college as acting provost.

Vollendorf, who was selected by the SUNY Board of Trustees after an extensive national search, will be SUNY Empire’s sixth president since its founding in 1971.

“I am thrilled to be part of the SUNY Empire State College community,” she said. “As a leader in online and blended learning, SUNY Empire fills a very special niche in the higher-education landscape—one that is in more demand now than ever before. I look forward to building upon the college’s history of access and innovation and moving the institution forward in ways that benefit and empower our students and the communities in which they live across New York state and around the world.”

Prior to SUNY Empire, she served as interim provost and chief academic officer at the University of Northern Colorado. She also worked for 16 years in the California State University system at three campuses as a faculty member, department chair, academic senate chair, dean, and provost.

United Ag & Turf has opened a  new state-of-the-art facility in Greenwich for selling its John Deere, Stihl, Honda and other products that support residential and commercial landscaping, compact construction equipment needs, and area farms. 

The facility replaces the Schaghticoke building that served as a John Deere dealership for over 40 years. 

The 25,200-square-foot building, located at 217 Route 29 in Greenwich, sits directly next to the Washington County Fairgrounds. It is a full-service store featuring an 11,500-square-foot service department, with 6,000 square feet  of warehouse space and a showroom. 

“We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to not only expand and better serve customers in the greater Schaghticoke/Easton/Greenwich area, but also provide our excellent team here with the best in facilities and improvements to help them continue to perform at the highest level,” United Ag & Turf president Scott Miller said.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in recent years and the demand for the quality products and services that United Ag & Turf offers makes this investment in the area a great fit. We look forward to being a part of the community for many more years to come.”

Eric Driscoll, CEO of United Ag & Turf, NE, and United Construction & Forestry, said the company is following this opening with several other new facilities. 

“We’re investing heavily in the Northeast to position ourselves to better meet the needs of our customers in this key market. Later this summer we will be unveiling our flagship construction, forestry, agriculture, and turf combination location in Clifton Park,” he said.

The Saratoga County EMS Council announced the recipients of the 2022 Saratoga County EMS Awards. 

Awards are provided to emergency services personnel, affiliated with a NYS EMS agency, who show individual or team heroism above and beyond the ordinary call of duty.

The EMS Agency of the Year awarded went to Edinburg Emergency Squad. It is an all-volunteer, nimble, dynamic service organization that has consistently embraced change, delivered the highest quality EMS coupled with enhanced services to their citizens and community.  Formed in 1962, they remain the only all-volunteer ambulance service in Saratoga County, staffed by 22 volunteers, answering 100 calls annually and supported entirely by community donations.  

EMS Educator of Excellence was awarded to Jean Tranka. Tranka has served as a certified instructor coordinator for the Saratoga County EMS Council for over 20 years. Her care and concern for each and every student has not only earned her the nickname, “Mama Jean,” but is reflected in her consistently near 100 percent pass rates in her courses. 

The Children’s Museum at Saratoga celebrated the grand opening of its new home in July.

The museum underwent a $3.1 million renovation project to relocate the museum to the historic Lincoln Bathhouse on Broadway in Saratoga Spa State Park. 

The fully accessible 16,000-square-foot facility is the first major public facing operation in the Lincoln Bathhouse since the 1990s, state officials said. 

The project, supported by a $600,000 Empire State Development grant, as well as other public grants and private donations, joins a growing list of public-private partnerships in the park that make up the Park of the Arts initiative.

“The opening of the Children’s Museum adds another major attraction to our growing list of partners in the beautiful, natural setting of Saratoga Spa State Park,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “The Park of the Arts initiative will continue to define Saratoga Springs as a year-round destination for world class arts programming, and this project marks a major milestone in our efforts to restore and reactivate the National Historic Landmark structures throughout the park.”

By Paul Post

Downtown Glens Falls’ slow, steady resurgence just got a boost with the July 21 grand opening of Queensbury Hotel’s $3.8 million new Adirondack Ballroom.

The 5,200-square-foot facility more than doubles the historic hotel’s capacity for hosting conferences and special events, which can further fuel the local economy.

“We’re already sold out now on Friday and Saturday nights, almost year round, hosting 300 people that need things to do. They want to go shopping, go to restaurants, events at Wood Theater or Cool Insuring Arena,” said Tyler Herrick, hotel general manager. “Before the expansion we were hosting 750 events a year. This is just going to help accelerate that by bringing midweek conventions to Glens Falls, which means more business for our property and all of downtown.”

The ballroom is the latest project in an ongoing makeover of the landmark, 96-year-old hotel, which has helped make it a business incubator by encouraging other small businesses to locate downtown.

By Jill Nagy

“My dream was always to have a business of my own and to do skin care,” said Jhoanna Cantera, who saw that dream come true with the opening of Cantera’s Sapphire Boutique at 219 Broadway in Saratoga Springs. 

The new business is the result of several years of hard work and some good luck at the end. Cantera began to study at an aesthetics school seven years ago but had to drop out to help with some family issues at home in Peru, South America. When she returned a month later, she had to get back online for a spot in the school’s aesthetics program. 

In the meantime, she was able to obtain a license for body waxing and get a job at a Saratoga salon doing waxing.

She saved money and eventually was able to return to school and work toward obtaining her skin care license. 

During that time, as she drove to work each day, she passed a coin shop that also sold jewelry. One day, she stopped in, largely to see the jewelry. The store was small but she really liked it. 

“Almost by chance,” she recalled, the store became available for rent. Cantera was still four months short of completing school. She was slowly accumulating tools and equipment for a future shop. Then she had another look at the then-vacant store.