UTICA, N.Y. — Construction crews continue their work on the nearly $550 million Wynn Hospital of the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) in downtown Utica, which MVHS expects to open in 2023. Crews closed a portion of Lafayette Street between State and Cornelia Streets on July 6 and July 7 to allow for concrete work […]
UTICA, N.Y. — Construction crews continue their work on the nearly $550 million Wynn Hospital of the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) in downtown Utica, which MVHS expects to open in 2023.
Crews closed a portion of Lafayette Street between State and Cornelia Streets on July 6 and July 7 to allow for concrete work on the facility. Earlier, a portion of Lafayette between State and Cornelia was also closed June 28, June 29, and July 2, to facilitate concrete work on the Wynn Hospital.
MVHS is providing updates on the progress of the hospital’s construction through its social-media platforms. Robert Scholefield, executive VP of facilities and real estate at MVHS, is featured in short video clips on the MVHS Twitter page.
On June 30, Scholefield spoke from the hospital’s central energy plant. “Behind me, you can see the boiler units that are used for the new facility to provide heat for the building … heats hot water, which goes into the building; provides heat in a number of different areas for a number of different purposes,” he said.
In a different tweet on May 30, Scholefield offered an update on the progress on the second floor in the area of the operating rooms. “So, what you see behind me is the framing for the 14 operating rooms that will be part of the new Wynn Hospital,” he said.
In a May 25 tweet, Scholefield recorded a short video from the ninth floor, which is the top of the Wynn Hospital. “This is highest level, which will have patients. We’re at the outside of the psychiatric units, so behavioral health will be right behind us. In this space that I’m in is the outdoor courtyard that will provide an outdoor experience for our behavioral health patients, something very important for their healing and recovery when they’re here at our facility,” he said.
Providence, Rhode Island–based Gilbane Building Company is the construction manager for the project. It has New York offices in Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Buffalo, Corning, and New York City, per its website.
Hammes Company, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based health-care consulting firm, is the project-management company that MVHS hired to facilitate the new hospital project.
Seattle, Washington–based NBBJ is the architectural firm designing the facility.
The nonprofit MVHS includes St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC), Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH), MVHS Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Visiting Nurse Association of Utica and Oneida County, and Senior Network Health.
New York State awarded MVHS a $300 million grant in 2017 to create an integrated health-care delivery system in Oneida County. It broke ground on the downtown Utica site in December 2019.
The 25-acre campus of The Wynn Hospital — which consolidates the area’s two aging acute-care hospitals — will include a 703,000-square-foot, 10-story facility, a central utility plant, and a parking garage, MVHS said.
Wynn family donation
MVHS on March 4 announced that casino magnate Steve Wynn’s family foundation had donated $50 million to the organization for services at the upcoming downtown Utica hospital.
It represents the largest donation in the MVHS history, per its announcement.
In recognition of the Wynn family’s contribution, the regional medical center will be named The Wynn Hospital of the Mohawk Valley Health System.
The donation will directly support services for the new regional medical center in downtown Utica and allow MVHS to invest in “innovation, technology and services beyond what was originally possible.”
“This is an incredibly generous gift — one that will make an impact on thousands upon thousands of Mohawk Valley residents each year,” Darlene Stromstad, president and CEO of MVHS, said in a release. “The funds will elevate the Wynn Hospital to greater heights and result in important service enhancements and lifesaving outcomes. I can’t thank the Wynn family enough for making this level of investment in the region, its people, its local families and its crucially important healthcare. This gift will have a lasting legacy on the Mohawk Valley.”
It was the intention of the Wynn family to leave a “lasting legacy of state-of-the-art health care” on the community where it all started for Steve Wynn, MVHS said.
“Our family has deep roots in Utica,” Steve Wynn said in the release. “I have everlasting and fond memories of my childhood in the community, which provided a strong foundation for the rest of my life. This is my way of thanking the community and recognizing my parents.”
The Wynns are frequent visitors to the Mohawk Valley of New York.
Wynn added that “MVHS has a bold plan for the Wynn Hospital — a plan that we believe in. We are proud to make this gift to advance the project even further and help ensure better health outcomes and an enhanced quality of life for the community.”