Upstate Community Hospital to open renovated unit Thursday, plans to hire 60

ONONDAGA, N.Y. — Upstate Community Hospital will begin to use a portion of a 24-bed unit on Thursday following a $2.8 million renovation project.

The facility also has plans to hire an additional 60 people to staff the unit when it’s fully operational later this year, Upstate announced. The hospital is recruiting, hiring and training staff for the new unit.

The 24 new beds are for patients who have had surgery at Upstate or need to be admitted to the hospital. As more staff come on board, additional beds will be opened. Six beds will open in the first stage.

Renovations to the western wing of the fourth floor of Upstate Community Hospital started last summer. The project cost a total of $2.8 million, which included $200,000 for design, $1.6 million for construction, and $1 million for new equipment.

Upstate’s in-house construction team handled the work.

The renovation of 4 west included all new paint, lighting, cabinetry, beds and furnishings. Patient bathrooms were renovated and spaces for staff were freshened. Upstate began planning the project in August 2017.

“The opening of this unit is going to help support the community need,” JoAnn Featherstone, associate director of nursing for Upstate Community Hospital, said in a statement. “We struggle as a community to have the available resources and space needed to treat and care for our patients. This will also help the economic growth of the community by the addition of positions.”

That section of the fourth floor was originally designed for patient rooms but had been converted into office space when it was still operating as Community General Hospital. The rooms remained offices after Upstate acquired the hospital in 2011. About 45 Upstate staff working in those spaces were moved to other locations throughout the building to accommodate the renovations.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com