By Douglass Dowty
syracuse.com
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul is under growing pressure to replace Upstate University Hospital’s outdated and, at times, dangerous emergency room, which is too small and too overcrowded to serve its Upstate New York patients.
Central New York lawmakers, Upstate officials and state education leaders say now is the time for Albany to inject hundreds of millions into the Syracuse hospital.
The State University of New York’s Board of Trustees have asked Hochul for $450 million to build a new emergency department, burn center and additional operating rooms as part of its annual budget pitch to the governor.
“SUNY is requesting a one-time capital investment of $450M to construct a new hospital annex in support of the most urgent needs of Upstate,” the proposal reads.
The push comes as Upstate’s ER continues to struggle with dangerous overcrowding and some of the longest wait times in the nation. Thousands of patients walk away each year before they are ever treated.
In recent years, “Upstate’s critical infrastructure needs have been, for the most part, ignored,” a group of bi-partisan state lawmakers wrote to Hochul last month about the hospital’s emergency department near downtown Syracuse.
“The current ED is over 60 years old and is inadequate for today’s standards of care and increasing demand,” the lawmakers wrote. “A new, up-to-date sound infrastructure is a necessity to treat patients as well as address regional capacity issues and overcrowding, all while balancing the continuum of care.”
Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard has chronicled the ER’s massive problems, as well as Upstate’s behind-the-scenes work to win state approval for a new ER and other facilities.
Three days after SUNY decided on its budget request, 10 lawmakers sent their letter to the governor, pressing her to include the money in the upcoming state budget.
“Without this funding, access to quality healthcare services in our community and region will not be sustainable,” they wrote.
The letter also points to the state’s commitment to Micron Technology, which has said it needs more burn unit beds for workforce safety, the legislators wrote.
One of the signees, Assemblyman William Magnarelli, told syracuse.com that Upstate’s needs are “through the roof” and said the letter was intended to outline “how grave the situation is.”
Upstate’s leadership, including President Dr. Mantosh Dewan, on Wednesday encouraged the governor to keep the region’s most important hospital in mind.
“Dr. Dewan and the Upstate leadership team are grateful to Governor Hochul for her steadfast commitment to Upstate Medical, and her vision for a strong healthcare system for New Yorkers,” the hospital’s statement read. “We look forward to continuing to work together with the Governor and the Legislature to meet the growing healthcare needs of our region and improve access to essential care for all.”
Hochul will outline her priorities during a State of the State address on Tuesday, then release her proposed 2025-26 budget later this month.
Upstate serves as Central New York’s only Level 1 trauma center, taking the sickest and neediest patients across 14 counties between Rochester and Albany. It is the only pediatric hospital in 22 counties, the only burn center in 37 counties and the poison control center for 54 counties.
But its average ER wait time was nearly five hours in 2023, one of the worst in the state, the legislators noted. More than 7,500 people walked out of Upstate’s ER without getting care in 2023. The number of ambulance trips to Upstate have increased by about 50% in recent years, the lawmakers argue.
An expanded emergency room at Upstate has been discussed for at least a decade. Its 35-bed ER is too small to handle today’s traffic. The hospital’s chief ER doctor told syracuse.com he needs up to four times the capacity.
Upstate’s last major project at its downtown hospital was the 2009 addition that included 200 new beds, including the 71-bed Golisano Children’s Hospital. Since then, Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester has embarked on a $650 million expansion that will triple the size of its ER, while Utica has built a completely new, $481 million hospital.
Syracuse.com in March reported Upstate’s decade-old plans to build a new ER many times bigger across East Adams Street from the existing ER, connecting the hospital and annexed by skybridge.
No concrete details about the $450 million proposal are known yet.
SUNY’s Board of Trustees proposed that number because it’s the same amount that SUNY is proposing be spent at its Downstate hospital, which has been beset by years of financial hardship and almost closed last year.
The letter from lawmakers compares Upstate’s vast healthcare responsibilities with its state-funded counterpart in Brooklyn, another public teaching hospital. The long-troubled Downstate facility has received an outsized share of money in recent years, the lawmakers argue. It’s time to give Syracuse’s SUNY hospital the same attention, they wrote to Hochul.
It remains to be seen how much can be built in Syracuse for that price. The SUNY proposal estimated that the ER could roughly double its capacity (increasing by 20 to 40 beds), while the burn unit could include 6-8 beds and there could be 2-4 new operating rooms to handle the increased ER traffic.
The Assembly members who signed the letter are: William Barclay , R- Pulaski ; Marianne Buttenschon , D- Marcy ; Pam Hunter , D- Syracuse ; John Lemondes , R- LaFayette ; William Magnarelli , D- Syracuse ; Al Stirpe , D- North Syracuse ;
The senators are: Joseph Griffo , R- Rome ; John Mannion , D-Geddes; Rachel May , D- Syracuse ; Chris Ryan , D-Geddes. Mannion is no longer a state senator. As of this month, he’s representing the 22nd Congressional District in Congress.
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