Nascentia Health CEO discusses new HQ, rebranding

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Construction is underway on the newly rebranded Nascentia Health’s new headquarters building on Syracuse’s near westside and it’s a structure that’s very much needed.

Kate Rolf, president and CEO of Nascentia Health, says the organization’s current building at 1050 W. Genesee St has a “lot of structural issues.” The nonprofit has spent more than $200,000 to stabilize the structure. She also notes that Nascentia Health sought estimates on how much it would cost to fully repair the building as compared with putting up a new structure.

“It will cost just as much to fix this building [as it would] to get a new one and tear this one down,” says Rolf.

VNA Homecare, VNA Homecare Options, Home Aides of Central New York, and all their respective affiliated organizations and foundations — now operating under the Nascentia Health name — currently operate in the existing 32,000-square-foot structure.

They’ll eventually move into the new 47,000-square-foot, $13 million facility that’s currently under construction at the same address.

Once Nascentia Health moves into its new building, crews will demolish the existing structure and replace it with a courtyard and a new parking area, says Rolf.

Crews are constructing the new building on property that previously functioned as the parking lot for VNA Homecare.

“We did purchase two adjacent properties that had a couple of run-down houses that we acquired and had those taken down,” she adds.

Nascentia Health is financing the project through fundraising, grants, and organizational assets, as well as a $7.5 million loan through KeyBank, says Rolf.

The Hayner Hoyt Corporation has been working on building the new facility since the start of the year. King + King Architects LLP designed the structure, which should be finished in early 2018, according to Emily Dillon, communications specialist at Nascentia Health.

Rebranding

Besides the larger headquarters, the nonprofit figured it would be a good time to combine all its organizations under one parent company in a rebrand.

Rolf noted that the organization operates a managed long-term care Medicaid plan that covers 48 counties, and New York has “many” VNA (Visiting Nurse Association) organizations.

“So if patients were asking for us, they may have been given a different VNA,” says Rolf.

She went on to explain why the organization chose the name Nascentia.

The word Nascentia came from the word nascent, Rolf says. The website for Merriam-Webster dictionary says nascent is an adjective that means “beginning to come into existence.”

The organization saw the word as a “great way” to describe it.

“Because not only are we coming up together and growing, but we’re always evolving and changing ourselves to meet the needs of the community,” says Rolf.

The organization has a total of more than 600 employees, and Rolf is projecting it’ll generate revenue of about $260 million in 2017.

About Nascentia Health

As a health-care system “without walls,” Nascentia Health will take a “holistic” approach to patient care, the organization says.

 It’ll address immediate needs; support “positive,” long-term medical and lifestyle choices; and leverage “leading-edge,” in-home care approaches and technologies to “improve outcomes and quality of life.”

Specialties will include in-home nursing and medical services; home health aides and elder care; cross-continuum care management; community health and wellness programs; transportation, equipment and “innovative” care technologies; chronic-disease management; and managed long-term care.

“Improving the outcomes and quality of life” for the 48 counties in Nascentia Health’s coverage area will also require a “commitment” to community programs, long-term health education, and social-daycare programs.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com