UTICA — Progress continues on the Wynn Hospital in downtown Utica as construction is now over 80% complete. The new hospital is expected to be finished by August 2023 and is slated to open by October of the same year.

The 702,000 square foot building dominates the Utica skyline, standing 10 stores high. Once complete, the hospital will have an inpatient unit with a capacity of 373 beds with an additional eight beds for pediatric patients, an emergency department with the ability to support 90,000 visits per year, a birthing center, conference and meeting spaces, a parking garage and a helistop. The parking garage is expected to be completed by spring of 2024.

In its current state, the the interior now has walls installed up through the first nine floors, with the 10th floor utilized for heating and air conditioning equipment. Painting and flooring installation have begun in rooms and wings across the hospital, giving a glimpse into what the hospital will end up looking like upon completion.

According to Bob Scholefield, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Mohawk Valley Health System, the presence of the new hospital and its various amenities will be able transform healthcare for the Mohawk Valley and entice more healthcare workers to come to the region.

“One of the biggest challenges any healthcare organization has right now, especially post-COVID, is the staffing, to be able to attract people to come work for your organization,” Scholefield said. “Having a brand new, state-of-the-art facility goes a long way to attract people to come to Utica because they can work in a brand new facility, as compared to some of our existing facilities, which one is 70 years old and the other one is over 100 years old. Although they can deliver state-of-the-art care, they’re not doing so in a state-of-the-art facility.”

During the two-month period in which the hospital’s construction will be complete but not yet operational, Mohawk Valley Health System will be receiving new medical equipment and furniture for the Wynn Hospital, as well as transporting medical equipment currently being used at St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare to the new hospital. Once the Wynn Hospital becomes operational, all patients who will be residing in St. Elizabeth’s and St. Lukes at the time will be transferred to the Wynn Hospital in what officials expect to be a one-day process.

A seamless transition has also been put into place to allow staff to become familiar with the new hospital prior to its opening.

“Since February 2021, I’ve been leading an effort called Operation Readiness, where all the departments that will come work in this building are now planning for their relocation,” Scholefield explained. “They take a look at how they currently deliver care in their current space, then we show them their new space, so then they figure out how they will deliver care in their new space.

“And then we also have to consider people from two different campuses coming together, so what are the differences, what works well, what doesn’t work well, what should we do completely different, how do we take the best lessons learned and bring them to the new facility,” he added.

Upon the opening of the Wynn Hospital, both St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare are expected to immediately close after. The two hospital properties have previously had requests for proposal done and has been closely looked at by local officials to determine what should happen with them. As of yet, the future of both hospital properties still remain unknown.