UTICA — With the Wynn Hospital expected to open in eight months, a new era of healthcare will soon be ushered in to the Mohawk Valley.

The hospital broke ground on its downtown campus in December 2019, just as the first case of COVID-19 was officially identified. With some delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital is expected to open in October, taking just under four years to complete.

The hospital comes with a hefty price tag of over $600 million, with $300 million coming from a grant from New York State, $50 million being gifted from the Wynn Family Foundation, whose name the hospital will carry, and Mohawk Valley Health System covering the remaining balance. The hospital comes after years of lawsuits, eminent domain battles and even some backlash from the public.

With the hospital now almost 90% complete and on track to open this fall, MVHS has succeeded in their goal to build a new hospital downtown and improve healthcare in the Mohawk Valley by having a state-of-the-art hospital and the ability to recruit more healthcare professionals to the area.

When finished, the hospital will have an inpatient unit with a capacity of 373 beds and an additional eight beds for pediatric patients. It will also have an emergency department that can handle 90,000 visits per year, a birthing center, conference and meeting spaces, a parking garage and a helistop, among many other modern healthcare features. By the spring of 2024, the parking garage is expected to be complete.

“The Wynn Hospital Medical Campus will provide an enhanced experience not only for our patients and their families, but also for the medical staff and our employees,” said Darlene Stromstad, president/CEO of MVHS. “Healthcare is a rapidly changing industry and it’s crucial for a health system to keep up with advancements being made so that we can deliver the best care possible. This new facility will give our staff the space and technology needed to provide the state-of-the-art care that is needed in our region. This includes the Center for Surgical Innovation which will bring a new level of sophisticated surgical services to our region, the expansion of the cardiac program through the new Heart Center and the Neurosciences Institute which will integrate medical and surgical services for brain and spine care, and the new Women’s and Children’s Center which will meet the unique needs of these populations.”

Concerns arise from hospital closures

Upon the opening of the Wynn Hospital, both St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare will be shut down. As a result, significant public interest has developed on the fate of both hospitals.

Concerns have been raised regarding what will happen to both hospital buildings, if they are going to be repurposed as multipurpose facilities or if they will end up getting knocked down and having the property redeveloped.

Recently, officials with MVHS and the city of Utica announced a strategic partnership in order to determine the best option on the fate of St. Elizabeth Medical Center. During a press conference held on Jan. 27 with city officials and officials with MVHS, Bob Scholefield, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Mohawk Valley Health System, declined to comment on questions regarding Faxton-St. Lukes Healthcare and no information regarding that hospital has been provided since.

Additional concerns have also been raised as to whether the new hospital will be able to accommodate what the two hospitals have been able to. Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare holds 370 beds and St. Elizabeth Medical Center holds 201 beds, while the Wynn Hospital will only have 373 beds in the Inpatient Unit. Closing down the other hospitals will leave a difference of nearly 200 beds above the new hospital's capacity.

Officials with MVHS have stated that each inpatient unit in the Wynn Hospital will have an estimated 30 private rooms and that two rooms on each unit can be converted to semi-private as census levels increase. The Wynn Hospital’s Emergency Department will also be able to support 90,000 visits per year, which is about 10,000 more than the combined Emergency Department’s visits for both St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare.

For more information on the new Wynn Hospital and to follow regularly posted updates, visit: mvhealthsystem.org/downtown-hospital