Dr. Hedy Migden, who was fired in July, leaving thousands of patients stranded, says she will be back in practice in January with Dr. Mark Oldendorf.

On July 5, according to Migden, the chief operating officer for St. Peter’s Health Partners came to her office and asked for her key. After tending to her patients, Migden was escorted from the office.

Migden, 68, had seven-and-a-half years left on her contract, which she signed in 2013. She said she had about 7,000 patients with 60 to 70 percent of them from the Helderberg Hilltowns and Altamont area.

“Dr. Oldendorf sought me out when this first happened,” Migden said this week. “He is independent, not beholden to any corporation.”

His office is at 1365 Washington Ave. in Albany, close to where Migden’s practice had been. Oldendorf works with another doctor and two physician’s assistants.

“Initially, I’ll do adult care,” said Migden. “He’s open to expanding.”

Migden went on, “Mark owns the business. He is a fine physician, a nice person, and he knows how to run a business.”

She is starting in January, she said, because it takes time to get reaccredited with Medicaid, Medicare, and insurance companies.

Asked why he was interested in having Migden join his practice, Oldendorf said, “She’s just a plain outstanding physician, and patients love her.”

Migden will be starting at Oldendorf Medical Services on Jan. 3, he said. The arrangement was formalized two weeks ago, he said. “We had over 100 people call in a few days,” Oldendorf said. He also said that Migden’s patients who need appointments before Jan. 3 could see someone else in the practice until Migden starts.

“We’re independent,” Oldendorf said. “It seems the trend these days in medicine is to have insurers and Medicare support independent practitioners because we’re able to turn on a dime. We don’t have to go through corporate channels.”

Oldendorf concluded that independent practitioners can “practice the brand of medicine that is good for the patient and not get caught up in meeting corporate interests.”

At the time of Migden’s firing, Elmer Streeter, a spokesman for St. Peter’s, said, “She was terminated for what the practice believed was cause, and she was given notice of the behavior she needed to correct to avoid such termination.” Streeter would not describe this “behavior.”

Migden responded, “I did receive a 30-day notice, which contained absolutely no specifics as is required by my contract. I believe they are merely trying to get out of the seven-and-a-half years that remain on my contract.

Migden said this week that she is proceeding with a suit against St. Peter’s Health Partners and its parent company, Trinity Health. She declined commenting on the specifics of the complaint.

At the time of her firing, Migden’s lawyer, Joseph Dougherty with Hinman Straub, said, “Dr. Migden is an excellent and dedicated physician whose first and foremost concern is always her patients. We’ll take any and all actions to enforce and protect her rights as well as state and federal law.”

He also said, “There were absolutely no allegations of inappropriate patient care or financial impropriety.”

In June, Migden had received a commendation from the chief executive officer of St. Peter’s Health Partners, thanking her for her 15 years of service and looking forward to many more.

In her quarter-century as a doctor, Migden has worked for both St. Peter’s and Albany Medical Center and, for 12 years, ran her practice solo. She started her practice, called Altamont Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, in Altamont in 1992.

Many of her patients called or wrote to the Enterprise editor this summer. Some of them were frantic because they could not get their prescriptions filled, or could not get their medical records, or could not find another doctor. Others were curious, and still others were loyal longtime patients who were angry.

Asked if she thought her former patients would follow her to her new practice, Migden said, “I expect so. I can’t call people and say, ‘I want you to join me.’” She added, “Many, many people have called me. If they ask, I’m allowed to say, ‘This is what I’m doing.’”