Once the Wynn emergency department opens at 6 a.m., ambulances called for emergency patients will take them there instead of either of the other campuses. Ambulances will be posted at both St. Elizabeth and St. Luke’s to provide care for any walk-in patients that arrive there. They will transport those with further emergency needs to the Wynn, MVHS officials said.
MVHS officials also held a Zoom meeting on Friday to further detail how it will transport patients from St. Elizabeth and St. Luke’s to the Wynn.
Patricia Charvat, senior vice president of marketing and strategy at MVHS, said they are working with a number of ambulance organizations — both local and from out of the area — to transport patients. A total of 22 ambulances will be in use Sunday from American Medical Response (AMR), Kunkel Ambulance Service, Kuyahoora Ambulance, Greater Lenox Ambulance Service, Old Forge Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and Edwards Ambulance.
The first patient will depart St. Luke’s shortly before 7 a.m., and MVHS expects patients to depart from one of the two closing hospital campuses every three to four minutes. No road closures are planned, and the ambulances will follow routes down Genessee Street from St. Elizabeth or along Champlin Avenue and Oriskany Boulevard from St. Luke’s.
On the receiving end at the Wynn, MVHS expects a patient to arrive about every seven minutes. Officials anticipate it will take up to 12 hours to move everyone to the Wynn.
As each patient is settled in at the Wynn, MHVS will call a designated family member to let them know the patient was moved successfully and what time family can come visit. General visiting hours after moving day are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and visitors must show identification to receive a visitor’s badge.
While work continues on the parking garage that will eventually supply parking for the new hospital when it opens next March, the Wynn is offering free valet parking from the main entrance for patients and visitors as well as those who need handicap accessible parking. The only currently available parking lot for patients and visitors is Lot B, located about a half-mile away from the hospital campus.
While most of MVHS’s services are moving to the Wynn Hospital, a number of services will remain at the other two campuses. The Center for Rehabilitation and Continuing Care Services which houses the rehabilitation and nursing center, inpatient rehabilitation unit, and home-care services will remain open on the St. Luke’s campus. The St. Luke’s Professional Office Building continues to house some professional services, such as physician offices, until early 2024 when the new medical office building near the Wynn is complete.
The St. Elizabeth College of Nursing, Sleep Center, health-information management/medical records office, and the MVHS finance/billing office remain on the St. Elizabeth campus.