By Douglass Dowty
syracuse.com
ALBANY, N.Y. — State lawmakers have thrown their support behind Upstate Medical University’s request for $450 million in this year’s budget to replace its outdated, dangerously overcrowded emergency room.
The proposals from the state Senate and Assembly come after Gov. Kathy Hochul set aside only $200 million for the project in her proposed budget in January.
On a recent trip to Syracuse, the governor toured the Upstate ER and left the door open to negotiate Upstate’s amount.
The state Senate and Assembly are expected to pass their proposed budgets, including Upstate’s full funding request, this week. The two legislative branches will then work with the governor’s office to craft the final state budget, which is due April 1 .
Central New York’s bi-partisan delegation sent a letter to Hochul in December asking her to put $450 million into the budget. That led to her opening offer of $200 million.
It’s unknown how much a new ER would actually cost. A proposed annex to house the new facility would also include an expanded burn unit and more operating rooms.
The SUNY system, which operates Upstate, had received a request for $450 million in improvements to its state hospital in Brooklyn . Central New York lawmakers contended that it was only fair to give Upstate $450 million, too.
The lawmakers’ proposal adds $250 million each to both the Syracuse and Brooklyn hospitals.
Regardless of what happens, it will be at least a couple years before anything is built. Upstate’s president Dr. Mantosh Dewan has said that the first $50 million will be spent studying exactly what is needed. The proper approvals will take time after the initial study is complete.
But Upstate officials and lawmakers are hoping to have the money dedicated in this year’s budget, even if it won’t be spent until all the preliminary work is complete.
Upstate’s adult ER is overwhelmed every day, routinely treating three times more patients than it has permanent beds.
There are 31 adult beds in rooms beyond the waiting area. Yet 80 to 90 people are receiving care at once during the peak around 4 p.m. daily, hospital officials say. Last year, 1 in 7 patients left the adult ER without getting care.
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