ONONDAGA — The State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University marked the start of work on a public umbilical cord blood bank at its Community Campus this morning.
The facility, to be known as the Upstate Cord Blood Bank, will stand two stories tall and contain between 10,000 square feet and 15,000 square feet. It is planned for space at 4900 Broad Road in the town of Onondaga — the former Community General Hospital site, now known as Upstate University Hospital’s Community Campus. SUNY Upstate hopes to complete construction in the third quarter of 2014.
When it is complete, the facility will join the National Cord Blood Program in Long Island City to become one of two public cord blood banks in New York, according to SUNY Upstate. It will store blood that remains in placentas and umbilical cords after childbirth. That blood contains hematopoietic stem cells that can be used to treat diseases such as cancer and sickle-cell anemia.
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Cord blood is often discarded as medical waste, said SUNY Upstate President Dr. David Smith, who spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility this morning.
“We’re going to be able to save that, utilize that,” he said. “Not only for patients, but when it’s not being used for patients, we can use it for research.”
The blood bank will store blood from across upstate New York, according to Thomas Quinn, SUNY Upstate’s senior vice president for health system development. As a public bank, its blood will be available to matching patients from around the world.
Construction is slated to cost $15 million. Sources of funding include grants written into the state budget and SUNY funding, according to Quinn. Rochester–based The Pike Co. is set to oversee construction, and Francis Cauffman of New York City is the project’s architect.
SUNY Upstate hopes the blood bank will take donations from 10,000 births a year. It will have a staff of about 10 people.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com
