Farmington and Thompson Embrace Growth
Thirty-five years ago, Thompson Health opened its first off-campus facility. The Thompson Medical Center at 1160 Corporate Drive in Farmington - between the Thruway and Route 96 - was designed to meet the healthcare needs of the growing population in the town and surrounding areas.
Housed in the new facility at the time were the Alton B. Corbit Immediate Care Center, Thompson’s occupational medicine program called HealthWorks, a Thompson satellite laboratory, and physician offices.
Much has changed in the years since, but Farmington is still growing, and Thompson is growing right along with it.
According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, New York’s total population dropped by 0.9 percent between April 2020 and July 2023, while Farmington’s population increased by 4.1 percent.
With approximately 15,000 residents – up from just over 10,000 the year the Thompson Medical Center opened – the town continues to welcome new businesses and housing.
“For at least the last six or seven years, we’ve added 100 or more new single-family homes, townhomes, and apartments every year,” said Town Supervisor Peter Ingalsbe, who first moved to Farmington in 1988 and has had a front-row seat to much of the growth while serving in town government for nearly 30 years.
He said with low town taxes, easy access to both Rochester and the Finger Lakes, and plenty of nearby shopping, the town continues to attract new residents.
“There are a lot of young couples, but we’re also getting grandparents moving to Farmington to be closer to their grandkids, so it’s a mixture,” he said.
Currently, 42 townhomes are going up at Monarch and Brimstone drives, while a planned subdivision at Alfalfa Crescent and Meadowbrook Lane will add 71 single-family dwellings.
Both are not far from one of the systems newest locations, Thompson’s Farmington Medical Group. It opened just north of the Cobblestone Arts Center at 1614 Route 332 in August 2023.
With 10,000 square feet and 17 exam rooms, the building houses both Farmington Family Medicine and a Thompson OB/GYN practice which includes an on-site OB/GYN ultrasound suite and a lactation room for breastfeeding mothers.
Eight providers work in the building. In the family medicine practice, Dr. Katherine Rast and Dr. Racquel Reyes are joined by Roberta Korich and Ashley Manning, both family nurse practitioners. In the OB/GYN practice, Dr. Jillian Babu and Dr. Julia MacCallum are joined by Certified Nurse- Midwife Shannon Bernard and Physician Assistant Morgan Bessey.
In 2024, between the two practices, there were more than 12,500 patient visits.
Just up the road at the Thompson Medical Center, what was once the Immediate Care Center is now called Farmington Urgent Care. HealthWorks is still on site, along with Thompson’s Farmington Rehabilitation Services, Thompson pediatrician Dr. Michael Li, and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Cassie Weis. In September 2023, Thompson opened the Farmington office of Canandaigua Medical Group Internal Medicine. Drs. Wilfredo Cruz and Reihaneh Derafsh were joined by Family Nurse Practitioner Katie Schaeffer McCool in late 2024 and Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Gephart this spring
According to Thompson Health President/ CEO Michael F. Stapleton, Jr., Farmington is very much on the radar of health system leadership when it comes to planning for the future.
“It’s exciting to be located in an area experiencing so much growth and change,” Michael said. “Just like health care, our neck of the woods is never stagnant, and I’m confident in our ability to continue to grow together as we care for current patients and welcome new ones.”