Crews begin work on Rome Health’s new physician center

ROME, N.Y. — Crews have started work on Rome Health’s $11.4 million project to build a new physician center on the hospital campus.

The organization on Wednesday hosted a ceremonial demolition crew to break down walls.

The new physician center will bring together primary care, specialists, diagnostic testing, and pharmacy in one location for “enhanced convenience and accessibility,” Rome Health said in a release. It’s using funding from a New York State Transformation Grant to pay for the project.

Rome Health has selected King + King Architects and the Hayner Hoyt Corporation, both of Syracuse, to design and construct the new physician center.

Rome Health expects the new physician center to open in late summer 2022. The project involves renovating existing administrative space on the ground floor and first floor and finishing the open space under the Bartlett Wing, which faces Black River Boulevard.

When complete, providers from the hospital’s affiliated practices will relocate to the new center. These include primary-care providers from Rome Medical Group and Delta Health Center, as well as many of the specialists from Rome Medical Practice.

“Many patients who are elderly or disabled often have difficulty when they have to go to multiple sites for their appointments and tests. This will make it easier for patients to get the care that they need,” AnneMarie Czyz, president and CEO of Rome Health, said.

Leading up to the project, some non-clinical departments and offices at the hospital have been relocated to different areas of the hospital or to off-site locations so it could prioritize the prime locations on the ground floor and first floor for the delivery of clinical patient care.

For example, the hospital’s medical-records department is moving to the 2nd floor of the Rome Medical Group building at 1801 Black River Blvd, effective Friday. With the advancement of electronic-medical records, employees can manage the administrative work at an off-site location, while clinicians can still access the information that they need to care for patients electronically, Rome Health said.