AUBURN — Mercy Health & Rehabilitation Center is about to undergo a rehabilitation of its own.
The 153,000-square-foot nonprofit nursing facility will soon be receiving a new sprinkler system, roof, and windows. Plans also call for renovated interior accommodations along with heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning work.
Construction is likely to start in January, according to John Ognibene, who is the center’s administrator. The work must be complete by February 2014, he says.
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That’s because the renovations, which come with a price tag of $15 million, are slated to be funded with a HEAL NY grant from the state. The grant calls for construction to wrap up by the second month of 2014.
“What prompted it, primarily, is the sprinkler system,” Ognibene says. “We’re partially sprinkled right now, but there is a [U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] mandate to be [fully] sprinkled by August of 2013.”
Less than 10 percent of the 7-story building has sprinklers, according to Ognibene. Its brick and coated-steel construction makes it fire resistant in insurance terms, but sprinklers nonetheless need to be installed in every resident room and bathroom, he adds.
And that coated-steel construction is another source of work that will be done in the upcoming project. The coating is asbestos and is set to be remediated. Asbestos remediation will also be done on other parts of the building, like its flooring.
Hayner Hoyt Corp. of Syracuse has been selected as the general contractor for the renovations. Schopfer Architects LLP and IPD: Engineering, both also based in Syracuse, are in line to work on the project.
Not all of the plans have been finalized, however. Mercy Health & Rehabilitation Center’s single large dining room could be split into two separate dining rooms, Ognibene says. The center could also call for some designs that emphasize the neighborhood concept and person-centered care for a home-like feeling.
Changes to the outside of the building will be minimal, though.
“The exterior will stay the same,” Ognibene says. “We’ll have new windows, there may be a reconfiguration of the driveway, and there will be an increase in the number of parking spaces.”
Planned merger
Mercy Health & Rehabilitation Center plans another major change for after the completion of construction in 2014. It expects to merge with Cayuga County Nursing Home, an 80-bed facility at 7451 County House Road in the town of Sennett. The county home’s residents would move to Mercy Health & Rehabilitation Center’s revamped facility, Ognibene says.
The Auburn building is currently licensed for 237 beds. But it was originally built for 297 beds before downsizing and shuttering a floor. The merger would reopen that floor and boost the facility to hold 300 beds.
“In the process, we’re eliminating 17 beds out of the system,” Ognibene says. “They’re beds that hadn’t been filled.”
The merger will require more staffing at Mercy Health & Rehabilitation Center’s building. It currently has 270 employees. Ognibene does not know exactly how many employees will be added, but says they are likely to come from the county nursing home’s staff.
“The significance of this entire project is that, ultimately, it is stabilizing long-term care in Cayuga County,” Ognibene says. “The Medicaid rates that the state has set and the Medicare rates set by [the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] have been in a state of flux for a long time, and it has impacted probably every facility across the state. This will guarantee the continuity of care for all of our current residents and all future residents.”
Ognibene declined to share Mercy Health & Rehabilitation Center’s current revenue totals or projections. According to the organization’s IRS Form 990, it generated $16.4 million in revenue in 2010. The facility is sponsored by the Sisters of the Third Franciscan Order.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com
