HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley parent company WMCHealth is holding a free cervical cancer screening clinic this Sunday. The event, officials say, is part of a broader effort to introduce comprehensive women’s health and wellness services to Kingston, while engaging with the community ahead of the pending consolidation of all hospital services at the company’s Mary’s Avenue campus.

The event will run from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25. During that time, WMCHealth’s Institute for Women’s Health and Wellness at 373 Broadway will be open for walk-in cervical cancer screening free of charge. The practice will also operate a shuttle from People’s Place at 17 St. James Street to the practice throughout the day.

The Broadway practice is run by OB/GYN Dr. Ashanda Saint Jean who leads WMCHealth’s network-wide Institute for Health and Wellness in Ulster County. Saint Jean said that the free screening event was intended to address a nationwide lapse in preventative care during the pandemic as Covid concerns and economic upheaval kept people away from medical facilities and routine screening procedures.

“A lot of people, for various reasons, did not seek medical care,” said “And now, unfortunately we are seeing a lot of pathology in pap smears.”

With four exam rooms and three practitioners, including a gynecological oncologist, Saint Jean said the clinic can accommodate eight patients an hour. But, she added, the free screening event would take all comers. Saint John added that the practice is English/Spanish bilingual and translation services would be available.

“The sky is the limit,” said Saint John. “If we were able to see 40 or 50 people, I would be ecstatic.”

The free cervical cancer screening event comes as HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley prepares to shift hospital services, which are currently split between the former Kingston Hospital on Broadway and the former Benedictine Hospital to a renovated and upgraded Mary’s Avenue campus. The consolidation plan, scheduled for completion this winter, includes a new labor and delivery ward and more women’s health services. Hospital officials say they hope the push for gynecological care will help alleviate the effects of a local shortage of providers that often means long waits, and long drives for women seeking care.

“As part of our commitment to the community [WMCHealth] is really focused on women’s health,” said Saint Jean. “We are in a medical desert for gynecological services. People had to travel over an hour or two for some services and now we have them right here.”