$21 million grant from NYS will fund the creation of an outpatient Cardiac Care Institute and to expand and modernize its operating rooms and surgical services
Auburn Community Hospital (ACH) has been awarded a $21 million Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Grant.
ACH applied for $21 million to fund two major projects that address significant community health care needs. Auburn will use the funding to develop an outpatient Cardiac Care Institute on its campus and to expand and modernize its operating rooms and surgical services.
The ACH Cardiology Institute will include a hospital wide multidisciplinary team of health professionals linking admissions, the emergency department, the cardiac catheterization team, intensive cardiac care unit, inpatient telemetry, outpatient testing, the laboratory, imaging services and cardiovascular rehabilitation.
This will allow ACH to provide outpatient cardiac services which is a significant need in Cayuga County, according to the hospital. Cayuga County has an increasingly elderly population with the inherent cardiac issues that accompany aging, as well as its emergent and long-term cardiac repercussions for patients who suffered from COVID-19.
In addition, this funding will allow ACH to modernize the OR rooms and expand its surgical services. ACH will expand the size and capacity of its operating area, including three new state-of-the-art operating rooms and one new procedure room. These ORs and procedure room will allow ACH to increase the number of surgeries and interventional radiology procedures. The volume increase encompasses hip and knee surgery, orthopedic sports surgeries, ENT and bariatric surgeries, and is directly related to new surgeons and specialists ACH has hired. This also complements ACH’s collaboration with the SUNY Upstate faculty practice to permit their surgeons to schedule additional surgeries at ACH. The additional OR capacity will also allow ACH to dedicate certain rooms for ambulatory surgery versus inpatient or emergency surgeries and allows for interventional radiology procedures in partnership with the University of Rochester Medical Center.
“We are delighted to receive this news from the state of New York,” said Scott Berlucchi, CEO. “A great deal of support has been provided by Gov. Hochul and the NYS Health Department for ACH and its transformation. We are also thankful to our NYS legislators and community leaders for their support of our hospital. The creation of our cardiac institute, combined with the new cancer center, and the OR expansion will provide the essential care that our community needs and that today they may have to travel long distances to receive these services. These services will now be accessible in our own backyard by our world-class doctors, nurses, and health care professionals.” said Berlucchi.