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Gastrointestinal Services

man and woman The Gastroenterology Department’s dedicated and experienced team assists patients at every stage — from admission, through your procedure, recovery and discharge — with expert care.

The department is located on the main floor and staffed with certified gastroenterological nurses and board-certified gastroenterologists. We provide patient focused services and use well-established techniques to perform endoscopic procedures and testing.

Emergent gastroenterologic care is always available, as well as both inpatient and outpatient elective procedures. Procedures should be scheduled through your primary care physician. For more information, call 845.334.2830.

Gastrointestinal Services include:

  • Esophageal dilation
  • Bronchoscopy
  • Upper Endoscopy/Gastroscopy
  • Colonoscopy
  • Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)

Esophageal dilation is a therapeutic endoscopic procedure that remedies excessive narrowing of the esophagus. The narrowing can be caused by conditions such as Schatzki rings, achalasia, scleroderma, or most commonly, an esophageal stricture, and causes difficulty swallowing, choking, coughing, and shortness of breath.

The procedure passes a dilation device into the esophagus, which expands to a pre-set width to allow proper function again. 

Bronchoscopy is a procedure that inserts a flexible tube, called a bronchoscope, into a patient’s airways via the nose and mouth, for a wide range of diagnostic procedures and therapeutic tests. The bronchoscope can be used with a tiny fiberoptic camera with a real-time video screen to aid diagnosis and guide treatment.

Bronchoscopy can detect abnormalities of the airway or lungs, including lung bleeding, cancer or chronic cough, or retrieves secretions, specimens, foreign objects, or blood.


The most common form of endoscopy, an Upper Endoscopy is a minimally-invasive diagnostic procedure that visualizes the gastrointestinal tract up to the small intestine. A thin fiber-optic cable with a tiny camera is inserted via the throat and gently guided through the esophagus by a board-certified gastroenterologist.

It can be used to diagnose disorders such as anemia, gastrointestinal bleeding, dyspepsia, heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Barrett’s syndrome and gastric or duodenal ulcer. There are a number of internal medicine procedures that can be performed endoscopically, including Transesophageal Incisionless Fundoplication for GERD patients.

Colonoscopy is one way a physician performs a colorectal screening. It is another form of endoscopy that examines the colon and small bowel using a fiber-optic camera and a flexible tube; in some instances, the physician can remove polyps or growths with the scope, which can be tested for cancer at a laboratory.

It is a routine colon cancer screening test for patients over the age of 50 thanks to its low risk and high degree of accuracy.

Colonoscopy can also diagnose colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

ERCP diagnoses and treats issues of the biliary or pancreatic ductal systems; most commonly, it is used to remove gallstones. It can also diagnose pancreatic and bile duct tumors.

As with other endoscopic procedures, ERCP uses a fiber-optic camera attached to a flexible tube; the tube can be widened slightly for gallstone removal.

HealthAlliance Hospital
105 Mary's Avenue
Kingston, NY 12401
Phone: 845.338.2500

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