Charles Evans Health Services Center opens in Bethpage

Adults and children with learning and developmental disabilities will begin receiving treatment Monday at a new $10 million facility in Bethpage.

There was a ribbon-cutting Wednesday night at the nonprofit Adults and Children With Learning and Developmental Disabilities' Charles Evans Health Services Center, where all of the group's medical care will be provided. Previously, the organization combined its treatment and administrative functions in an adjacent old Grumman building on South Oyster Bay Road.

In the new 22,000-square-foot building, named for the late co-founder of the Evan Picone fashion house, the organization has been able to upgrade equipment and increase the number of patients seen. Dental X-ray machines will now be done by faster digital models, while the 14 full- and part-time doctors will use ultrasound for the first time.

Mark Crean, director of health services, said Wednesday that there will be four dental treatment rooms instead of two, shortening the waiting list. The digital X-ray system will reduce the time for patients in the dentist's chair by about 10 minutes per visit, reducing anxiety.

There is also more space for medical care and twice the number of rooms -- 10 -- for psychological care.

"Having multiple specialists located in one facility is really a great benefit for the needs of our patients," Crean said. "Right now we are located in two facilities."

Executive director Aaron Liebowitz said the building had been expected to open last summer, but delays in obtaining building approvals and disruptions from superstorm Sandy pushed it back.

The organization currently serves 1,700 patients in Bethpage but expects to increase the total with the new facility.

Behind the new building, the organization is constructing an eight-bed residential building for disabled people who need round-the-clock nursing care. The $1.6 million facility is scheduled to open by the end of the year. Two additional residential buildings are planned.