New UB Medical School Design Revealed

April 10, 2013 by BNMCin Allentown, Member Institution(s), News

The University at Buffalo (UB) unveiled the HOK design for the new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building to be constructed atop the NFTA Allen/Medical Campus station on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Since winning the international design competition for the medical school concepts last year, HOK has worked closely with UB officials, the SUNY Construction Fund and community groups to develop the design best suited to the needs of the medical school while strengthening connections with the surrounding community. The design process is still underway, but is expected to be finalized within the next few months. The groundbreaking for the 7-story, more than 500,000-square-foot school is scheduled for the fall of 2013. The medical school will be one of the largest buildings constructed recently in the region when it officially opens in 2016.

Expected to bring an additional 2,000 faculty, staff and students to the Medical Campus, the steel-framed, state-of-the-art facility will feature a 6-story, light-filled glass atrium. The building’s façade will be clad with a high-performance terra cotta rainscreen and a glass curtain wall system that will bring daylight deep into the building. A convenient facility amenity will include bridges connecting to the two L-shaped buildings, the soon-to-be-built John R. Oishei Children's Hospital and Conventus medical office building.

Serving as the building’s main interior “avenue,” there will be an atrium that will provide naturally illuminated by skylights and two glass walls, one along Washington Street and the other toward Allen Street.

Floor layout:

Floors 1 & 2: Multipurpose educational and community spaces for medical school and community outreach programs, such as the UB mini-medical school and other public health initiatives. The goal is to make the building’s public spaces highly accessible.

Floors 3, 4 & 5: Core research facilities as well as wp-contentroximately 150,000-square-foot of state-of-the art, easily configurable research laboratories for faculty in the basic sciences.

Floor 6: Advanced and specialized medical education facilities in the U.S., such as an expanded patient care simulation center, which will include the Behling Simulation Center, currently located on UB’s South Campus.
Floor 7: Gross anatomy facilities.

The medical school’s administrative offices and academic departments will be located on floors 3-7. It will also house a surgical simulation center where medical students can conduct surgeries in a simulated operating room. A complementary robotic surgery simulation center will train students and physicians in the latest remotely controlled robotic surgery technologies.

Aligning with key objectives from the UB 2020 strategic plan, the medical school will help create of a world-class medical school, increase recruitment of outstanding scientists, physician-scientists and clinicians to the university and transform the region into a major destination for innovative medical care and research.

“The new design allows us to grow our class size from 140 to 180, educating more physicians, many of whom will practice in the region,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences at UB and dean of the medical school. “It allows UB to hire more talented faculty, bringing to this community much-needed clinical services and medical training programs.”

The new design also provides the most efficient layout for state-of-the-art medical education and research as it looks to receive LEED gold certification. A pedestrian passageway will extend through the building between Main and Washington Streets, leading to the Allen Street Western Gateway. To further promote alternative transportation modes, the passageway is deliberately aligned with a proposed Allen Street pedestrian extension from Washington to Michigan Streets, which will feature a bike share facility.

Cain also stated that “faculty conducting scientific and translational research will be in close proximity to faculty performing clinical care in the hospitals” and that the new design will establish “a complete continuum from discovery to patient care on one campus and in modern facilities expressly designed to efficiently maximize the medical school’s primary missions of education, clinical service and research.”

With the medical school so close to major teaching hospitals like Kaleida Health's Buffalo General Medical Center and Roswell Park Cancer Institute and research facilities like the Clinical Translational Research Center, UB will be made into a strong academic and health care contender, much like Cleveland Clinic and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

For UB's downtown campus, the medical school will help create a vibrant, urban, mixed-use district seamlessly connected to the surrounding Allentown and Fruit Belt neighborhoods and other downtown communities. The $375 million medical school is partly funded by the NYSUNY 2020 legislation and private donations.

Read coverage about the medical school design unveiling below:

New UB Medical School is Designed to be an Integral Part of its Community

UB Unveils Med School Design (More Images)

UB Unveils New Downtown Medical Facility Design (With Photos)

UB Unveils School of Medicine Design

UB Unveils Design for Downtown Medical School: Building to be “Gateway”

UB Offers Images of Future Medical School

*Pictures retrieved from the University at Buffalo/HOK

*YouTube video created by the University at Buffalo

Private Sector Investment on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

February 12, 2013 by BNMCin Construction, Homepage, Investment Opportunities, Member Institution(s), NewsLeave a Comment

Post from Buffalo Niagara Enterprise Blog: Development Discussions
By Alan Rosenhoch, Business Development Manager, Buffalo Niagara Enterprise

Conventus rendering by Kideney Architects

Conventus (Latin for “coming together”) is a brand new seven-story medical building being developed by Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation at the northern gateway of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC). Designed to be a center for collaborative medicine, it will be anchored by Kaleida Health and UBMD. Ciminelli expects to open the building in the spring of 2015.

I had the opportunity to ask the President and CEO of Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation, Paul F. Ciminelli, a few questions:

Q: You recently began site preparation work on the Conventus project; what does this project represent for the BNMC and the region’s life sciences industry?

A: There are two aspects of this project that represent major milestones in the development of the Medical Campus. First of all, Conventus is the first significant private investment on the campus, which is indicative of our strong commitment to the BNMC and our belief in its vision. Private dollars send a strong message to our community and to other markets that the Campus is a viable initiative and worth the investment.

Secondly, Conventus’ adjacency and physical connections to the new Children’s Hospital and the new UB School of Medicine, is groundbreaking in its collaborative wp-contentroach to the needs of the patients, physicians, researchers and students. Coupled with its location at the northern gateway to the Campus, Conventus facilitates a seamless connection among all of the major medical-related facilities at the northern end.

Q: How much space will be taken by the two anchor tenants, Kaleida and UBMD, and how much space will remain for future tenants?

A: Kaleida will occupy wp-contentroximately 85,000 sq. ft. on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors, which are the floors where connections will be made to Children’s and the Medical School, as well space on the ground floor for their Blood Draw and Pharmacy. UBMD will occupy 60,000 sq. ft. on the 4^th floor and a portion of the 5^th floor. A major regional bank will occupy a portion of the ground floor as well. Based on the inquiries we have had to date, we expect to have tremendous interest in the remaining square footage, and that full occupancy will be achieved quickly.

Q: What types of tenants are you seeking for the balance of space? For what type of company would you consider Conventus to be ideal space?

A: As with all of our projects, we will identify potential tenants that are synchronous with the existing tenant base and with the overall vision of the Campus. We refer to Conventus as a “center for collaborative medicine” because of the multiple disciplines that will be housed in and facilitated by our physical connections to the Hospital and UB’s School of Medicine. We look forward to accommodating clinical, educational, practical and research components at Conventus, as well as other healthcare-related tenants.

Q: You are targeting LEED Gold Certification for this project; why is sustainable design, building elements and operation so important to Ciminelli?

A: In 2008, Ciminelli made a commitment to pursue LEED certification with all of our projects going forward because of our commitment to minimizing our environmental footprint and to developing high-performing buildings. From an ownership standpoint, it has a definite positive impact on the long-term operating efficiencies of the building. From a tenant’s perspective, LEED certification translates to a healthier, more efficiently run environment in which to work. It’s a win-win.

Q: Conventus is not planned to be a one-shot project for Ciminelli on the BNMC; what else do you have on the drawing board for the near and long-term future?

A: The core of our business is being able to see the big picture; the ability to put pieces of a puzzle together and create synergies within every development project we undertake. This is what our company does best, and why we are committed to supporting the BNMC’s vision. We have purchased additional property at 33 High Street directly across from Conventus and Children’s Hospital and adjacent to UB’s site for the Medical School in anticipation of continued growth. As things continue to evolve on the Campus and we see possibilities for future needs there, we will pursue strategic developments to support those needs.

Q: Plans call for Conventus to connect to the Allen Street NFTA Metro Rail station; how does this fit into your overall plan to connect different parts of the region?

A: Ciminelli is a strong proponent of transit-oriented development, as evidenced by our two current projects under construction: Bethune Lofts (Main Street and Hertel Avenue), and Conventus. Developing along our transit lines facilitates connectivity among vibrant areas of Buffalo Niagara such as the UB South Campus University District, the Hertel Avenue district, the Medical Campus and Canalside. As it stands today, the NFTA Metro Rail station will be connected to the new UB School of Medicine at Allen Street. It should be noted that, while there is a connection from that building to Conventus, its use will be somewhat restricted.

Q: Conventus represents the first significant for-profit private sector-led development on the BNMC; what makes your company so bullish on the future of the campus?

A: Ciminelli has owned property on the Campus for 20 years, so we’ve been a part of it since its early stages. We saw things begin to evolve as the plan was rolled out. We’ve seen similar models succeed in cities of comparable size and demographics to Buffalo, so we knew it could work here, especially with it being so close to our Central Business District and being on a main transit line. All of the components were there; all it needed to take it to the next level was significant private sector investment. We were the first, but we know we won’t be the only ones. Additional private sector support will hwp-contenten on and around the Campus.

“My life works in Buffalo Niagara because of the tremendous quality of life we have in a relatively low-cost environment, the great educational institutions that supply a talented workforce, and because of the friendliness of its people. I love it here!”

– Paul F. Ciminelli

Fisher-Price & Mattel Donate $3M to New Oishei Children's Hospital

February 4, 2013 by BNMCin Construction, Homepage, Member Institution(s), News2 Comments

Inside Kaleida Health‘s John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital will be the Fisher-Price & Mattel Family & Child Resource Center thanks to a $3 million donation to The Children’s Hospital of Buffalo Foundation from the local toy company. The donation secured naming and construction rights by Fisher-Price, Inc. and Mattel, Inc. for the Center which will be located on the 5th floor of the new hospital.
In addition to interaction with and support from the Child Life and Stone’s Buddies staff, patients and families will have access to the 6,000-square-foot respite area and its designated sections. There will be areas for meditation, a chapel, family consultation rooms, and an area for computers and video games. Fisher-Price and Mattel will incorporate toy storage compartments within the play areas on each of the hospital floors, and will include branded animal sculptures within the outdoor garden.

The Center is scheduled to open in 2016 with the new hospital. Groundbreaking for the new Children’s Hospital site on the corner of Ellicott and High Streets, across from the Buffalo General Medical Center, is set to begin this spring.

Read coverage about the donation below:

Toy Makers Pledge $3 Million for Children’s Hospital Family Center

Fisher-Price, Mattel Pledge $3 Million for New Children’s Hospital

Fisher-Price, Mattel Give $3M for Children’s Hospital Project

Roswell Park's Center for Personalized Medicine

January 31, 2013 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Community, Health care, Member Institution(s), News, Research1 Comment

Roswell Park Cancer Institute‘s (RPCI) new 5,000-square-foot facility, the Center for Personalized Medicine (CPM), will provide individualized therapies for patients through genetic code sequencing (an analysis of genomes – the entire inherited genetic makeup of humans). Using state-of-the-art, next-generation technology, advanced research has led to the identification of unique genetic characteristics that will help determine effective and custom treatments for patients with certain diseases. Utilizing high-throughput screening for drug discovery, personal gene sequence machines and a 1,600-processor supercomputing cluster, the RPCI team will efficiently be able analyze individual genome data.
Located within RPCI’s Center for Genetics & Pharmacology, the Center will also act as a resource for scientists and medical providers to use for national clinical care wp-contentlication. In addition to having a mobile unit, the CPM is the first regional resource for next-generation gene sequencing to have met federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) requirements.

At the end of last year, RPCI was awarded a $5.1 million grant to begin the pilot phase of the genome project from Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council, established to promote regional economic development. Since then, RPCI has garnered an additional $18.5 million in investments to support the project. From RPCI, $16 million has been invested in equipment and infrastructure, and Computer Task Group (CTG), a Buffalo-based national leader in healthcare IT, has committed to $2.5 million. As a local and nearby partner, CTG will provide its healthcare and bioinformatics expertise to deliver personalized medicine quickly and cost-effectively. The University at Buffalo, IMMCO Diagnostics and Western New York Urology Associates LLC are additional supporters of the project.

Candace Johnson, PhD, Deputy Director of the CPM stated that “We now have the ability to do robust, ‘next-generation’ gene sequencing on blood and tissue samples, with tremendous possibilities in terms of what we can learn diagnostically, prognostically, therapeutically.” Johnson also stated that personalized medicine is the future, not just for oncology patients but for treatments across all diseases.

The CPM is a prime example of the type of support that Cuomo’s Council looks to provide for organizations throughout the region to capitalize on resources and developments that will support the local economy by creating more jobs and economic growth. Recognizing the growth hwp-contentening on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and throughout the region, Cuomo stated that “Western New York has a thriving health and life sciences industry cluster, which the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council and Roswell Park Cancer Institute recognized. Through the Regional Council process, they created a custom-tailored plan to take advantage of this opportunity, which will rebuild the regional economy.”

RPCI’s President and CEO, Dr. Donald Trump captured the significance of the Center’s presence. He stated that “The doors are wide open in terms of the opportunities for entrepreneurship and technology transfer that will flow from [the Center].” The CPM team, partners and supporters increase RPCI’s menu of services, giving the institution the opportunity to contend with other small circle healthcare organizations providing similar medical services.

Immediately on the agenda, the CPM will undertake its first 3 sequencing projects, clinical research studies that will:

Predict on a case-by-case, personalized basis which of the two main types of standard chemotherapy, anthracycline-based or platinum-based, will be most effective in treating a woman’s breast cancer, and with fewest adverse side effects;

Develop, in collaboration with Western New York Urology Associates, a diagnostic test for superficial bladder cancer, the ninth most common cancer in the U.S. and the most expensive of all cancers in terms of cost to treat; and
Engage 600 healthy volunteers representing the ethnic, racial, socioeconomic and geographic diversity of the eight-county Western New York region in an initiative to identify the particular healthcare priorities of this community, aided by a mobile tissue-collection unit that will travel to disparate and underserved areas.
In addition, RPCI expects to use the resources of the CPM in planning individualized care for its lung, melanoma and leukemia patients in the near future.

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Work Begins with ‘Conventus’ – Buffalo News Story

December 18, 2012 by BNMCin Construction, Homepage, News3 Comments

The Ciminelli Medical Campus building, “Conventus,” will include retail businesses on the first floor.

Link to story.

Published: 12/17/2012, 08:08 PM

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus work begins with ‘Conventus’

$90 million structure to be finished by 2015

BY: Henry Davis /News Medical Reporter

The transformation of Main Street along the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is about to get started.

Fencing went up Monday, and construction is expected to begin soon on a major medical office building on the block bounded by Main, High, Ellicott and Goodrich streets.

The major tenants will include doctors associated with the University at Buffalo medical group known as UBMD and many services connected to a new Women & Children’s Hospital, which will abut the office building being developed by the Ciminelli Real Estate Corp.

The $90 million building is planned to be just less than 300,000 square feet over six floors, but it could grow to seven floors, depending on interest from additional tenants, said Denise Juron-Borgese, the project manager.

The developer has named the building “Conventus,” which is Latin for coming together and reflects the building’s planned connecting walkways with nearby facilities, including the Research Institute on Addictions and the anticipated new UB Medical School building.

“Our building is the hub that will be connecting the other buildings,” said Timothy Vaeth, vice president of development at Ciminelli.

Vaeth and Juron-Borgese said Ciminelli is moving ahead with work in anticipation of final site plan wp-contentroval in January by the city Planning Board. In addition, the developer in January will seek sales and property tax abatements for the project from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency.

Women & Children’s Hospital, a part of Kaleida Health, is moving from its longtime Bryant Street location in the Elmwood Village to the downtown Medical Campus. Groundbreaking for the new facility, which will be renamed the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, is expected in the spring, with completion in early 2016.

UB officials have said they plan to relocate the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences from the South Campus to the Medical Campus by 2016 in a project estimated to cost $375 million.

The Ciminelli project will begin with remediation of the site through the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, which provides tax credits for cleanup and redevelopment of properties with environmental issues.

Ciminelli needs to remove a lot of the soil, which contains elevated levels of petroleum hydrocarbons as a result of the site’s history as a gas station for many decades. Both Kaleida Health, which owns the land, and Ciminelli, the developer that will lease the land, are responsible for the cleanup.

The project marks the first major private investment on the downtown Medical Campus and is the most expensive single building Ciminelli has developed.

Completion of the building, which will include two levels of underground parking for 318 vehicles, is scheduled for spring 2015.

The pediatric outpatient surgery center in the new children’s hospital will use space in the Ciminelli building, with the Ciminelli building acting as the “front door” of the surgery center, Vaeth said. The second and third floors of the Conventus building will connect seamlessly to the pediatric hospital, he said.

Kaleida Health also will use the Ciminelli building for a number of other children’s services, including a pharmacy, a laboratory and clinics, including dialysis, therapy infusion and the Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center.

“Physicians [at Women & Children’s] wanted to leverage the accessibility of the Ciminelli building to Main Street. This is where people can check in, and it keeps congestion away from other facilities,” said Robert Bragg, vice president of campus development at Kaleida Health.

Young patients will enter through the Ciminelli building and receive surgery in the new children’s hospital, which will connect to Buffalo General Medical Center across Ellicott Street through a second-floor walkway and a tunnel for utilities and support services. Work on the tunnel, assuming city wp-contentroval, is scheduled to begin early next year, Bragg said.

The building, which was designed by Kideney Architects of Amherst, also will include limited retail business on the first floor, mainly to serve the tenants, such as, potentially, a bank branch and a food store. Plans for a hotel were abandoned in favor of devoting the space to medical use, Vaeth said. However, he said, it’s likely the Medical Campus will need more hotel rooms in the future as development expands.

hdavis@buffnews.com

UB Purchases First Properties for School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

November 15, 2012 by BNMCin Homepage, Member Institution(s), News1 Comment

UB Takes Historic First Step to Acquire Downtown Buffalo Properties on which New Medical School will be Built

The University at Buffalo today announced the purchase of land at 960 Washington St., the first of several parcels it is assembling to make way for construction of the new $375 million University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The lot is one of three properties, located in the Main/High streets area, which UB hopes to acquire by the end of the year for its historic project to relocate the medical school from the UB South Campus to the downtown Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

“In moving our medical school downtown, where it will be ideally aligned with local hospitals and other key life sciences partners, UB is staying true to our roots in more ways than one,” said UB President Satish K. Tripathi.

“Building healthier communities has always been a vital focus of our academic mission — from our early days as a small private medical school serving the City of Buffalo in the 19th century, to our 21st century role as a major public research university that enriches the quality of life both locally and globally. The acquisition of this land is a timely and important next step as we move forward with this critical next phase of UB 2020.”

UB planners have selected HOK to design the state-of-the-art medical school and biomedical sciences center. Ground will be broken for the new UB facility in September 2013. One of the world’s leading architectural firms, HOK has a global portfolio of health sciences facilities and academic buildings and an international reputation for sustainable design.

The $375 million project, funded in part by NYSUNY 2020 legislation signed into law last year by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, is a key component of the UB 2020 plan for academic excellence, which is intended to benefit students, faculty, staff and the Western New York community. The new medical school will sit at the corner of High and Main streets, in the center of the region’s emerging biosciences corridor, a short walk from hospitals, research centers and incubators that nurture new bioscience start-up companies.

The acquisition was executed by UB Foundation Services Inc. (UBFS).

“This is an exciting step in an effort to create a world-class medical school on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. We are proud to facilitate this purchase on behalf of the university and its medical school,” said Robert Denning, chairman of the UBFS board.

UBFS paid $1.2 million to acquire the parcel from Evergreen Real Estate, whose partners are developer Michael Joseph and businessman Kevin Brinkworth, which has owned the property since 2005. Real estate firm CBRE Buffalo worked with the UBFS to broker the property transaction.

The University at Buffalo Foundation noted that Joseph served on its board from 2002 through 2008, prior to when UB began contemplating relocation of its medical school to the downtown site.

FNUB Inc, an affiliate of the University at Buffalo Foundation, is continuing negotiations on other properties to accommodate the first phase of the medical school project. Separate discussions continue between UB and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority regarding the Main-Allen Transit station, which the university would like to incorporate into the medical school building.

John DellaContrada; dellacon@buffalo.edu; 716-645-4601

RPCI Completes Phase 1 for Development of Clinical Sciences Center with New Era Donation

November 8, 2012 by BNMCin Fundraiser, Homepage, Member Institution(s), News2 Comments

With the help of a recent $1.5 million donation from New Era, Roswell Park Cancer Institute‘s (RPCI) Clinical Sciences Center (CSC) has reached its Phase 1 development goal.
The Making Room to Save Lives: The Campaign to Build a Greater Roswell Park is a result of RPCI’s growing patient population. Since the campaign began back in June 2011, it received a $10 million donation from Circle of 10 – a collaborative gift from 10 well known business and philanthropic leaders in Western New York. RPCI patients even gave a $1 million gift that was included in the initial gift of $10 million. A total of 435 donors contributed to Phase I of the Making Room to Save Lives campaign.

The 11-story, 142,000 sq. ft. CSC to be built on Michigan Avenue and Carlton Street will literally make room for the increasing need for cancer services offered at one of the nation’s leading cancer centers.

RPCI’s President and CEO, Donald L. Trump, MD, FACP, stated that “Over the past five years, we have seen a nearly 40% increase in patients and we have seen an almost 60% rise in outpatient wp-contentointments over the past decade.” New Era’s gift has made the process involved with meeting the needs of patients more tangible.

Connected to the main RPCI entrance, the CSC will serve as the location for patients to be screened for cancer and manage outpatient treatments. Its administrative offices will also operate out of the builing. Within the CSC will be a new Chemo-Infusion Clinic that will be twice as large as the present clinic; a Breast Center that will offer community mammography services; a new Mammography Center; an Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic; and a Patient Education/Survivorship Center for RPCI’s patients and their families. The CSC will have additional state-of-the-art office facilities and space for clinician-scientists to analyze data from clinical studies.

A supporter of cancer research, prevention and education as one of its four key platforms, New Era’s gift to Roswell Park continues a long tradition of philanthropy.

“At New Era, we strongly believe in giving back to the communities that we work and live in. One important way we do this is by engaging in partnerships and signature programs that focus on finding a cure for cancer,” said Christopher Koch, CEO of New Era.

The Roswell Park Alliance Foundation raised $40 million for Phase 1 to begin the process of building the CSC. Construction for Phase I is scheduled to begin in Spring 2013. An additional $10 million will be raised in Phase II for the Center’s “build out” and shell space requirements.

Rendering by FxFOWLE Architects

Landmark Gift From Oishei Foundation for Children's Hospital

September 25, 2012 by BNMCin Member Institution(s), NewsLeave a Comment

A $10 million donation to Kaleida Health means the brand new hospital will be named the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, continuing to serve the women and children of Buffalo. The donor, The John R. Oishei Foundation, named the facility after the late industrialist and philanthropist, John R. Oishei, who established the Foundation in 1940.
Jim Wadsworth, Chairman of the Foundation stated that “The primary reason [Oishei] began his philanthropy back in the 1940s was to benefit the children of his employees and of the community.” The mission of the Foundation is “to be a catalyst for change to enhance economic vitality and the quality of life for the Buffalo Niagara region.”

The unprecedented gift will enable the hospital to continue expanding the specialized health care services offered to its infant and women patients. The 430,000 sq. ft., 12-story facility will house a state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which received a $2 million gift in August, a connected ambulatory care center, and a family resource center. In the future, plans include a Women’s Pavilion to house labor and delivery, post partum care, the regional perinatal center for high-risk pregnancies, and a women’s health center providing prenatal and gynecological care.

“Similar to how John R. Oishei sought the best technology available in his time to create the first automobile wiper blades and ultimately the Trico Products Corporation, the Foundation that now bears his name and legacy will share its resources to make advanced technologies and care available today to improve the health and lives of families throughout our community,” said James R. Kaskie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kaleida Health.

Set to open in 2016, the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital will sit on the corner of High and Ellicott Streets, across from the Buffalo General Medical Center.

Read more coverage about the gift below:

Oishei Gift Boosts Medical Campus

Oishei Makes $10M Pledge to New Children’s Hospital

Oishei Foundation Gives Hospital $10M

New Oishei Children’s Hospital Receives $10 Million Gift

Oishei Gifts $10 Million Towards New Children’s Hospital

UB's Clinical & Translational Research Center Grand Opening

September 18, 2012 by BNMCin Member Institution(s), News, ResearchLeave a Comment

The University at Buffalo‘s (UB) Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) has opened its doors to function as the premier center placing clinicians right next to clinical and translational researchers.
The University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences held the grand opening event at the UB-Kaleida Health joint facility located on Ellicott and Goodrich Streets on Thursday, September 20. The CTRC commenced the research collaborations to take place in the immediate future with a ceremony featuring physicians, UB representatives, and city and state officials. Speakers at the event included: Timothy F. Murphy, MD, director of UB’s CTRC and SUNY Distinguished Professor, UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Michael E. Cain, MD, UB vice president for health sciences and dean of the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Jeremy M. Jacobs, chairman, UB Council; Satish K. Tripathi, PhD, UB President; Sam Hoyt, Regional President, Empire State Development Corp.; Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, NYS Assembly; Mark Grisanti, NYS Senate; and Byron W. Brown, mayor, City of Buffalo.

A walk-through of the CTRC and a keynote address by pioneering genomics scientist J. Craig Venter, who was conferred a SUNY honorary doctorate followed the ceremony.

A 170,000 sq. ft. biomedical research facility created to lessen the interval between discovery and cure, the CTRC will allow UB’s physician scientists to do their research upstairs in the CTRC and to see patients and work with clinicians downstairs in the Gates Vascular Institute (GVI).

The CTRC was designed by Cannon Design and constructed by with significant input from UB’s researchers so as to maximize this kind of collaboration in order to catalyze medical breakthroughs and innovative treatments. UB is recruiting more world-class researchers to work within the CTRC; the facility is part of UB’s medical school, which is relocating to downtown Buffalo in 2016 under the UB 2020 plan and with the support of Governor Cuomo’s NYSUNY 2020 legislation. A Biosciences Incubator within UB’s CTRC will assist UB researchers with the commercialization of new medical therapies and technologies.

“The opening of the CTRC is an important step in the relocation of UB’s medical school to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, under the UB 2020 plan and with the support of the NYSUNY 2020 legislation,” said UB President Satish K. Tripathi.

While Kaleida’s GVI occupies the first 4 floors of the facility, the CTRC is housed on floors 5 – 8 with the Jacobs Institute (which will open in October 2012) located on the 5th floor between the two. Read more about the CTRC here.

Kaleida's WCHOB Receives $2 M Grant from The Children's Guild Foundation

August 27, 2012 by BNMCin Construction, Member Institution(s), NewsLeave a Comment

Kaleida Health‘s Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo (WCHOB) has received a $2 million grant from The Children’s Guild Foundation for the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The grant is the largest gift given by The Children’s Guild Foundation since its 102-year establishment. Having supported the WCHOB for more than a century, the non-profit foundation continues to carry out its mission to “advocate and fund rehabilitative healthcare, research, education and therapeutic recreation programs for special needs children.”
“The Children’s Guild Foundation has been an incredible advocate and supporter for the Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo and countless children with special needs for generations,” said Cheryl Klass, Senior Vice President of Operations of the Buffalo General Medical Center and President of the WCHOB. She also stated that “This enormously generous gift will now ensure that future generations of newborns and their families will have direct access to the best possible critical care available.”

The gift is the first for the WCHOB and will support the construction of a state-of-the-art unit that will serve the hospital’s premature and ill infants. Nearly 250 newborns are transferred to the WCHOB from various hospitals throughout the region. Waiting for the arrival of the infants in need of care is an on-the-ground team of neonatal nurse practitioners and respiratory therapists who receive the babies from an air transport team made up of the same medical professionals.

The Board of Directors from The Children’s Guild Foundation presented the endowment to the physician and executive leadership from Kaleida and WCHOB at the Gates Vascular Institute, with the new WCHOB site view nearby. The Foundation’s Board Chair, Wendy T. Stahlka, stated that “The funding of the Neonatal Instensive Care Unit will have a direct and positive impact on the children who start their lives with developmental and physical challenges.”

“As excitement about our physician- and family-led plans for a new Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo continues to build throughout our community, this gift gives us great momentum for the move,” said James R. Kaskie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kaleida Health.

The new 12-story, 430, 000-square-foot hospital will be connected by bridges to an ambulatory care building that will sit behind the hospital, housing outpatient clinics and other support programs for the WCHOB. The hospital is set to open in 2016 on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

New Women and Children's Hospital Design Concept Submitted to City Planning Board

July 17, 2012 by BNMCin Allentown, Community, Construction, Fruit Belt, Member Institution(s)Leave a Comment

The anticipated conceptual design for the Kaleida Health affiliated Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo (WCHOB), which displays a 12-story, 430,000-square-foot facility, was presented to the City Planning Board with the hope of getting wp-contentroval to begin construction in the spring of 2013. The WCHOB looks to complete construction of its new hospital building on the corner of Ellicott and High Streets in 2016.
Teresa Quattrin, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Chair, Department of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo and Pediatrician-in-Chief, Chief, Division of Endocrinology-Diabetes, Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo expressed the benefit and outcome of moving into the new building. “[W]e have a beautiful new building to look forward to, but also and more importantly, one that will deliver the best possible care available for women and children throughout Western New York and beyond,” said Dr. Quattrin.

Shepley Bulfinch joins the group of architects designing state of the art buildings on the Medical Campus. The Physician Strategic Planning Committee comprised of nearly 50 physicians chose the firm because of Shepley Bulfinch’s experience designing clinically complex facilities focused on patient and family care, especially when it comes to children’s hospitals. In addition to the physician-led committee, there have been 150 planning meetings for the project held by 26 user groups, solely focused on producing a plan for the new hospital and ambulatory space.

The City of Buffalo Planning Board wp-contentroved the hospital’s previously submitted environmental impact statement (EIS). Back in May, the Board discussed initial building massing, floor plates and hospital access for the new building. Official site plan wp-contentroval for the inpatient tower project is the next step.

In the coming weeks, the hospital will officially submit its Certificate of Need (CON) with the New York State Department of Health. The CON process is the state regulatory process that governs among other things, construction and renovation of health care facilities; much like the plan for a new Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo Hospital.

Read updated coverage about the new plans for the WCHOB site below:

Women & Children’s Hospital Sells Adjacent Properties

Kaleida to Take Next Step on Children’s Hospital

Plans for New Women and Children’s Hospital Move Forward

Planning Board to Get Detailed Look at Hospital Proposal

Design for the Future

City Planners Get Look at New Children’s Hospital

New Designs for Women and Children’s Hospital

Designs Released for New Women and Children’s Hospital

Women and Children’s Releases Drawings of New Hospital

Conceptual Design for Women & Children’s Hospital Released

Higgins and Supporters Advocate for Creation of Western Gateway

June 25, 2012 by BNMCin Allentown, Amenities, Community, Construction, Homepage, NewsLeave a Comment

Congressman Brian Higgins expressed his support of the creation of a Western Gateway welcoming patients, visitors and employees of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) into the historic Allentown neighborhood. The City of Buffalo’s Mayor Byron Brown and the President of the Allentown Association, Ed Castine are in support of the project as well.
With a total of $6.8 million from the Federal Highway Administration and other resources, the Allentown Association and the City of Buffalo supports the enhancement of the urban experience at the intersection of Allen and Main Streets connecting the Allentown neighborhood and business district with the Medical Campus. The University at Buffalo’s (UB) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will bring 1,200 new employees to the Medical Campus, this in addition to other planned developments will more than double the 2012 employee base of 8,500 to more than 17,500 by the year 2016. The City of Buffalo’s 2012-2013 Capital Budget has $100,000 designated for design work for improvements on Allen Street. Nearly $2 million will be needed for the conversion of Kevin’s Walk to the public right-of-way with enhanced amenities for pedestrians from Washington Street to North Oak Street. The remaining funds will be used for additional infrastructure development moving from Main Street westward along Allen Street.

Higgins encouraged partners who will make the gateway possible to move forward with zeal and urgency since the funds designated for the Allen Street Extension have been redirected. “The rapid growth of the Medical Campus brings exciting new opportunities for Buffalo and Western New York. We must act urgently to harness the good things hwp-contentening here. There is great potential for local business and job growth as well as quality of life enhancements” stated Higgins. “Improvements to the western gateway would tap into that potential and significantly benefit the Allentown community.”

Emphasizing the desire to spread the fruit of the economic development taking place on the BNMC, the campus’s President and CEO, Matt Enstice, stated that “This project will facilitate that and reassert the importance of sustainability – both in supporting the built environment that already exists and leveraging new investment to create a modern, walkable environment unlike anything Buffalo has seen in this post-industrial era.”

The streetscape and infrastructure improvements will help to further connect businesses, restaurants, and residents in the Allentown neighborhood with the large population of patients, visitors, employees who travel to the BNMC daily. This development will bring new life and economic activity to the already lively Allentown neighborhood. The Western Gateway will serve as a welcoming presence to the historic neighborhood and compliment the significant opportunity the relocation of UB’s Medical School represents for the Allentown neighborhood, the Medical Campus, the City of Buffalo and the Western New York region.

Four Neighborhoods, One Community Receives Planning Award from American Planning Association

June 19, 2012 by BNMCin Allentown, Community, Event, Fruit Belt, Homepage, Networking, News, OutreachLeave a Comment

Four Neighborhoods, One Community was selected to receive the Outstanding Planning Award for Comprehensive Planning from the Western New York Section of the American Planning Association. Recognizing the planning efforts designed to create a collaborative partnership between City of Buffalo and the Fruit Belt, Downtown, and Allentown neighborhoods, the initiative integrates the shared vision of community leaders, residents, and business owners within the surrounding neighborhoods with the planning that takes place throughout the campus. These collaborative efforts are paving the way for the use of this initiative as a best-practice model as it continues to gain recognition.
“the Medical Campus is blessed to be surrounded by neighborhoods that are collaborative and active in shaping their future,” said Michael Ball, the Director of Planning and Implementation for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. “Four Neighborhoods, One Community will position Buffalo as a national model for how the Medical Campus as an urban campus and economic development engine can effectively develop and grow in conjunction with surrounding neighborhoods for the benefit of the greater community.”

Over 100 residents, business owners, employees, and community members gathered to discuss the changes they would like to see in their neighborhoods. As a strategic plan, Four Neighborhoods, One Community focuses on engagement that is designed to further integrate Medical Campus-wide planning efforts as well as those of the individual BNMC institutions with those occurring in the surrounding community.

It is the desire of all stakeholders involved that this initiative continues to produce tangible results as the dialogue moves forward identifying, addressing, resolving the issues that stifle economic development, neighborhood sustainability, and the improved health for all individuals that have connection to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and are in one of the near-by neighborhoods.

The outcome-goals manifesting from the planning include workforce development, streetscape improvements, increased transportation options, environmental sustainability changes, and policy improvements to help create healthy communities. The purpose of this initiative is not to keep growth within the Medical Campus, but to combine and improve resources in order that community goals might align with institutional goals to enhance the overall attractiveness of the City of Buffalo.

Architecture Firms Design State of the Art Buildings for BNMC Member Institutions

June 14, 2012 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Construction, Homepage, Member Institution(s), News, RenovationsLeave a Comment

After much anticipation about where the new University at Buffalo‘s (UB) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences would be and the firm that would design it, it is evident that the new buildings being built on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) are setting the standard for creative submissions by many globally competitive design firms to design innovative facilities within the Buffalo-Niagara region.
UB’s announcement to have HOK design its $375 million medical school came after holding a second-round architectural ideas competition to decide which firm could present the best creative design for the project. Although the actual design has yet to be revealed, what can be said is that the plan will go down in the books as one of Buffalo’s most sustainable structures to be built. The HOK planning goal is to aim for a LEED Gold certification for the facility.

The medical school will be located on the corner of Main and High Streets and will either incorporate the NFTA Metro Rail Station into the design or be built alongside it. The groundbreaking is set to take place in the fall of 2013 with the goal of completing construction by 2016. The facility will bring 1,200 students, faculty and staff to the BNMC.

HOK model that won the architectural competition to design the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Continue reading “Architecture Firms Design State of the Art Buildings for BNMC Member Institutions”