Upstate University Hospital’s new pediatric-emergency department to begin treating patients Tuesday

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Upstate University Hospital’s new $3 million pediatric-emergency department will begin treating patients Tuesday.

Upstate officials formally opened the new pediatric-emergency department with a ribbon-cutting event last Thursday.

The facility is “completely separate” from Upstate’s adult-emergency department, the hospital said in a news release posted that day on its website.

The move to a new location for the pediatric-emergency department means the adult-emergency department “will grow too,” as it expands into the former pediatric-emergency unit, the hospital said.

The new pediatric department is “double” the size of the existing unit. The new facility has 18 exam rooms, five more than the previous unit located adjacent to the adult emergency department. The 18 exam rooms allow Upstate to treat 24 patients, the hospital said.

The pediatric-emergency department sees about 27,000 visits annually.

It also has a “pediatric-friendly,” diagnostic-radiology suite. With its location in the new unit, patients and their families will “no longer” have to leave the floor for “many” diagnostic tests.

The department is also decorated with “whimsical designs and generous splashes of color, all of it aimed at lessening the anxiety for young patients,” the hospital said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com