By Mark Scott and Kevin Nadrowski
Buffalo, NY – Kidney patients in Western New York will benefit from a new initiative being launched by UB physicians and Buffalo-based technology company, CTG. They're creating a new electronic records system that will track and manage the treatment of people in the area who are suffering from chronic kidney disease.
The State Health Department is providing a $7 million grant for the nearly $30 million project.
CTG Chairman James Boldt says more than 100 new technology jobs will be created.
"CTG could have headquartered its health care informatics practice anywhere, but we chose to base it in Buffalo because only here in Western New York have we seen the kind of collaboration between universities, government officials and public companies that is required to make a project like this one work," Boldt said.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown described Wednesday's announcement as another important development in the continuing evolution of Buffalo's medical campus and "the promise it holds for employment opportunities and health care advances for current and future generations of residents in our city and region."
Studies have shown that 40 percent of patients with Type One Diabetes will develop end-stage kidney disease within 25 years. But with the tracking and management this new technology will provide, officials say expect that figure will drop to just nine percent.
It's estimated more than 1,400 people in Western New York suffer from serious kidney disease.