Dialysis unit’s departure seen as plus for Patchogue

Patchogue officials hope that the relocation of a Brookhaven Memorial Hospital dialysis unit from West Main Street to Yaphank will help the village become an even bigger tourist attraction.

The officials say that move will help the village attract a hotel that, along with the likely expansion of Blue Point Brewery, will revitalize the west end of Main Street and help it draw tourists who want to wine, dine and stay overnight.

Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center’s board of directors finalized a contract Wednesday to buy the former John J. Foley nursing home in Yaphank from Suffolk County for $15 million.

As part of the agreement, the Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Dialysis Unit on West Main Street would relocate to the former nursing home building, village officials said.

Patchogue officials celebrated the agreement and its potential benefits.

For years, officials have wanted to lure a hotel downtown and they are now touting the dialysis unit site as the perfect location.

A hotel in that location would not only bolster an already booming downtown, which offers roughly 20 restaurants, Broadway-type shows at the performing arts center and a popular night club, but raise its profile.

Patchogue could become a place for Long Island MacArthur Airport travelers or other tourists to stay overnight, said Village Deputy Mayor Jack Krieger. And the Long Island Rail Road station and the ferry to Fire Island are within walking distance.

“Certainly, having a hotel really gives us a chance to be a tourist destination,” said David Kennedy, executive director of the Patchogue Chamber of Commerce.

Add that Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch, which acquired Blue Point Brewery Co. in 2014, is pushing to relocate the brewery across the street from the dialysis unit site — where Briarcliffe College now stands — and West Main Street could one day look completely new.

“This is a prime opportunity,” Mayor Paul Pontieri said in a Thursday interview. “This will give us a different look.”

Patchogue would have the potential to be a stop over for people driving from Manhattan to the Hamptons for weekend trips, said Dennis Smith, executive director of the Patchogue Village Business Improvement District.

“For the longest time we had a theater and restaurants, but we never had a place to put people up. This is a great opportunity to promote the village,” he said.