Castle Commons Medical Center Opens Today

Less than five months after a lease was signed for an 11,400-square-foot medical center at Castle Commons, the doors will officially open to patients today.

A team of five businesses will provide healthcare in the new location, including Southern N.H. Internal Medicine Associates and Derry Medical Center.

An open house will follow next week, Oct. 18., and will include possible appearances from U.S. Rep. Charles Bass, NH-2, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne.

Bass has frequented the site during its progression, holding a rally at the property before the lease was signed and coming back to visit during construction over the summer.

Lamontagne was also present during the rally, which took place in April.

One of the SNHIMA employees who will also frequent the new site is Dr. Edward Yourtee, MD, FACP, who has lived in Windham for 24 years.

He said the new location will provide an added convenience to patients.

"It's only 10 minutes down the road, Yourtee said in reference to the company's Derry location. "But people don't want to go out of town. Convenience is everything."

Before the Castle Commons location was built, both practices, which are the largest in New Hampshire, were out of space.

Today, only a portion of the doctors will be on the new site, but appointments are already booked for the week. Yourtee said that there will be eight to 10 providers on site each day.

During a morning walk-through of the finished facility last week, Chris Nickerson, owners' representative for Castle Commons, was excited about the final product.

"The site is a win for us," he said.

Nickerson gestured to the constant flow of traffic outside, which he said will only continue as time marches on.

Close to the Castle Commons property is the Applewood Golf Links property, which is being eyed by the National Guard for a possible armory. Other community members want the land to tie into the development of the town.

Nickerson also commented on the nearby land.

"If you have good economic development on that site, it's good for the community," he said.

Final touch-ups took place over the past several days.

According to Yourtee, Brad Dinsmore of Prudential Dinsmore Associates provided vintage prints of Windham's history to go on the walls in the main waiting area.

That lobby is a central location for all five practices. The other three are Derry Imaging, LabCorp and Granite State Gastrointestinal Consultants.

Susan Chadwick, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Derry Medical Center, said that the timing of the opening is perfect, as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Mammogram screenings will be available at Castle Commons.