By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – The Erie County Medical Center is still sitting out of the process. But plans are moving forward anyhow to build a world class heart center at the Buffalo Medical campus.
Officials with the state appointed board overseeing the consolidation of Kaleida and the Erie County Medical Center say plans are in place to build a $115 million global vascular center.
It calls for a six story building adjacent to Buffalo General Hospital that would house a new emergency room, 30 operating rooms, 88 intensive care units, new labs and a heliport.
About a dozen doctors, mainly from Kaleida and UB, were on hand today in support of the Western New York Health Care System, or NEWCO board, plan. Michael Cain, MD., dean of UB's Medical School, said the center is desperately needed to fill critical gaps in cardiology care in Western New York.
NEWCO board officials say they are ready to apply for a $20 million state HEAL grant to help build the state-of-the-art complex, that would be modeled after the Cleveland Clinic. The remainder of the funding would come from other state aid, philanthropy and operations. The application deadline for the HEAL grant is this week.
But ECMC has its own proposal for a heart center - at the Grider Street Campus - that was submitted a year ago. It has not yet received or been denied approval from the state health department.
NEWCO Board Chairman Robert Gioia said they were given full support from state Health Commissioner Richard Danes for the NEWCO plan.
Gioia said the Grider street campus would have a place in the consolidated health system. But when asked about ECMC's trauma care, Kaleida President James Kaskie acknowledged that ECMC's future could evolve. He said, "we don't know yet what that is."
ECMC Senior Vice President Thomas Quatroche said that statement underscores their concerns aboout the entire consolidation process.
He said they will continue to pursue all options. For now, he said that means appealing to lawmakers and the governor to intercede.
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