St. Joseph’s Health offering cord-blood donation program to expectant mothers

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SYRACUSE — St. Joseph’s Health Hospital says it is now giving expectant mothers the chance to voluntarily donate their baby’s umbilical cord blood to the Upstate Cord Blood Bank at Upstate Medical University. The new partnership will potentially increase cord-blood donations that will be available for public use, St. Joseph’s Health said in a release. […]

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The new partnership will potentially increase cord-blood donations that will be available for public use, St. Joseph’s Health said in a release.

“We are pleased to be able to now offer our cord blood collection services to the parents delivering at St. Joseph’s [Health] Hospital,” Dr. Matthew Elkins, medical director of the Upstate cord blood bank, said. “Through their generous donations of their child’s cord blood, they are helping others in need, either through transplantation or further medical research.”

Cord-blood donation is “completely safe” for mother and baby; labor and delivery “is not affected,” the hospital contended. No blood is taken from a newborn; it is only removed from the umbilical cord after birth. The designation of Upstate’s cord-blood bank as a public blood bank is “important in that there is no cost to donate and donated cord blood is available to anyone who needs it,” St. Joseph’s Health added.

Once donated, the cord blood will be stored in the bank and made available to transplant centers in the United States and throughout the world for patients in need. The cord-blood units will be listed on national and international registries in order to be matched to the patients who need them. Any units collected that are not suitable for transplantation will be made available to researchers, both at Upstate Medical University and around the country.

How it works

Deciding whether to donate cord blood is “best done” during the pregnancy, per the release.

Each obstetrics practice will provide expectant mothers with educational materials about cord-blood donation and the forms required to donate. The expectant parents complete the forms at home and submit them directly to the cord-blood bank. Once reviewed, the bank will notify St. Joseph’s labor and delivery unit, which alerts the provider of the mother’s intention to donate. Once the blood is removed from the umbilical cord, the donation is then packaged and transported to Upstate’s 20,000-square-foot facility that features a processing laboratory and cryogenic storage containers.

The Upstate Cord Blood Bank operates under “strict” guidelines and protocols, established by state and federal health organizations, including the New York State Department of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, Maryland–based AABB Center for Cellular Therapies, and the Omaha, Nebraska–based Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy.

Upstate Medical seeks participants for clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine

Health Care, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — Upstate Medical University is involved in a clinical trial evaluating the “safety and performance” of a potential vaccine against COVID-19, and the medical school is seeking participants for the trial. Upstate is part of a national multi-center study to assess the efficacy of a vaccine from global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).

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Upstate is part of a national multi-center study to assess the efficacy of a vaccine from global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE). No vaccines are currently available to prevent COVID-19, which has spread around the globe, but a number of them are under development and in clinical trials. The World Health Organization declared the virus a pandemic in March.

The efficacy study is a “randomized, placebo-controlled, observer-blind study,” meaning some individuals in the study will receive a placebo and others a vaccine candidate. The majority of the study team will have no knowledge of which individuals are receiving the placebo or vaccine candidate, Upstate Medical said in a news release.

Dr. Stephen Thomas, chief of Upstate’s infectious disease division, said the decision to participate in such a trial is a “personal one,” but it has the “potential to benefit humanity.”

“Individuals who volunteer for this study will help advance our understanding of whether this vaccine has the potential to protect people and work toward ending the pandemic,” Thomas said.

Study visits will take place in the Clinical Research Unit of the Institute for Human Performance on the Upstate campus.

Individuals interested in participating in the study can call (315) 464-9869 or email trials@upstate.edu for more information.

Eligibility and participation

To be eligible for the study, individuals must be in good health and between the ages of 18 to 85 and be able to make a two-year commitment to the study. Volunteers will be required to provide blood samples up to two years after receiving the vaccine/placebo. Individuals might be seen up to 10 times during the two-year study period. The two-year time frame for the study is “important to assess the safety and long-term immune response.”

Participants will be compensated and will not incur any expenses for their involvement in the study, Upstate said. People who have previously tested positive for COVID-19 are not eligible to participate in the study, the medical school added.

During their first two study visits, participants will receive the study vaccine or placebo injection. Researchers will also collect nasal swabs to test for COVID-19 during these times. During the other study visits to follow, researchers will take blood samples.

For seven days after receiving the placebo/study vaccine, participants will be required to complete a daily e-diary (smart-phone application) recording any specific reactions.

Fewer than one of three Onondaga County hotel rooms were occupied in June amid COVID-19 impact

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SYRACUSE — Onondaga County hotels continued to be mostly empty in June as the continuing coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on business, travel, and leisure. The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county was 28.5 percent in June, up from 22.7 percent in May and 18.3 percent occupancy

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Broome County hotels had just over one-third of their rooms occupied in June

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BINGHAMTON — Hotels in Broome County continued to see a slight pickup in guests in June compared to May and April, but occupancy was still substantially down from a year ago due to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on travel and hospitality, according to a recent report. The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage

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The “Musts” To Make Meetings Safer In The Age Of COVID-19

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Large corporate meetings and industry events, so much a part of the American business ecosystem, remain on hold, have been postponed, or have been cancelled altogether. When they will happen again is anybody’s guess. COVID-19’s spikes in many states have prompted pauses and rollbacks to business re-openings and shifted large gatherings further out into the future.

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COVID-19’s spikes in many states have prompted pauses and rollbacks to business re-openings and shifted large gatherings further out into the future. But at the same time, the uncertainty gives event planners and business leaders more time to learn how they can protect and monitor the health of large numbers of people when it is deemed safer to hold such events.

By nature, travel and mass gatherings at conference centers or hotels are high-risk for getting sick. The ultra-contagious coronavirus, resulting in a worldwide pandemic that now finds the U.S. as the epicenter, continually reminds us that there is no definitive playbook to combat it. Many people have a palpable anxiety and outright fear now, and will continue to have it, until an effective vaccine is approved.

So, whenever meetings finally resume, planners will need to have a plan in place for protecting their attendees, reducing the risk of infection spread, and providing all stakeholders with the resources they need without fearing for their health. Essentially, we need to re-establish health security in the meetings industry and doing so means applying three main principles from which a sound plan can be formed.

Prevention. There are certain things you must do to prevent illness at a meeting. They include seating configurations that allow for social distancing, sending out communications about all the protocols, encouraging frequent breaks for hand washing, and disinfecting surfaces more frequently in heavy-traffic rooms. Hotel staff should guarantee the cleaning of each meeting room between each meeting, including the cleaning of all chair/table surfaces and spraying the room before the next group arrives. Also, you need the ability to provide personal protective equipment or work with a vendor to procure masks and gloves for those who will still be on edge about attending.

Detection. If you are a forward-thinking company that is going to hold meetings this fall or in the winter of 2021, you will have to deal with sick attendees. They may have the seasonal flu, a cold, or they may have COVID-19, and you need to plan accordingly. It starts with giving temperature checks at the beginning of each day, temperature checks at general sessions, and temperature checks when people are registering at the conference.

If there are people at the meeting showing flu-like symptoms, it’s a must to find out whether they have COVID-19 and provide access to rapid COVID-19 testing. The testing doesn’t necessarily have to be on site; if not, find a local resource to do the testing.

Response. If some attendees are sick, meeting organizers need to know how they will handle that. It’s advisable to come up with a strong sick-attendee policy that is enforceable and that can be monitored. That means if people are sick, they don’t attend the meeting, or if at the meeting they must go back to their room. If testing positive for COVID, they have to be quarantined. Who did they come into close contact with while at the meeting? Those people, too, will need to be tested.

Remember, communication is extraordinarily important at a large meeting — now more than ever. You may want to have somebody dedicated to that role, putting informative and honest content together. Attendees must be told the facts, such as what the COVID situation is at that time in the U.S. and in the city where the meeting is held. Give people the opportunity to ask questions and address them. Conference planners are not medical experts, so it’s helpful to guide attendees to appropriate websites that can update them on the virus and safety precautions.

What the meetings industry needs to start accepting is that pandemics now happen more frequently — we have had two in the first two decades of the 21st century. It’s an industry always vulnerable to illness. Therefore, the industry should adhere to the principles above and develop consistent strategies to reduce that vulnerability. If we do so, then in future pandemics we won’t have such a decimation as we have seen with the industry in the past few months. It will take an industrywide effort of getting leaders to work together and create standards.

Dr. Richard Arriviello (www.inhousephysicians.com) has been the chief medical officer for InHouse Physicians (IHP) for more than 15 years, helping provide employee health services to some of the largest corporations in the world. Most recently he spearheaded IHP’s COVID return-to-work program for employers.

Syracuse College of Law adds RIT to list of schools with 3+3 admissions agreement

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SYRACUSE — The Syracuse University (SU) College of Law recently announced a 3+3 admissions agreement with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), allowing RIT students to pursue a law degree at SU. The pact enables qualified students to obtain their bachelor’s and law degrees in six years, instead of seven, Syracuse said in a news

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The pact enables qualified students to obtain their bachelor’s and law degrees in six years, instead of seven, Syracuse said in a news release.

Under the agreement, RIT students who are admitted and enroll through the 3+3 program must complete all coursework required of their undergraduate major in three years. Their first year in the College of Law then fulfills the final year of their bachelor’s degree, allowing 3+3 students to finish both degrees in six years.

“Among our multi-disciplinary research centers and institutes, the College of Law’s Innovation Law Center (ILC) will be of special interest to RIT students,” Craig Boise, dean of the Syracuse College of Law, contended. “This program attracts top law students interested in intellectual property law, and it is a particularly good fit for students with a science and technology background. ILC is just one of Syracuse’s applied learning opportunities, along with our nationwide externship program and our advocacy program, ranked 15th in the nation.”

Designated the New York State Science and Technology Law Center since 2004, ILC offers a technology commercialization law curricular program for students interested in the technical, legal, and business aspects of bringing new technologies to market. In addition to focused doctrinal study, ILC students work on research projects for real technologies on behalf of universities, federal research laboratories, technology development organizations, and established companies and startups. The program provides a foundation for careers in law firms, corporations, government agencies, tech transfer offices, and consulting and investment banking firms, according to Syracuse University.

With this agreement, RIT joins other 3+3 schools that partner with Syracuse University College of Law in upstate New York — Alfred University, Le Moyne College, Nazareth College, and St. John Fisher College — as well as Syracuse’s Whitman School of Management and three Atlanta–based historically Black colleges and universities, including Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College.

“The 3+3 agreement with Syracuse provides our students with an accelerated pathway to one of the top law schools in New York State, just 90 miles from Rochester, trimming one year off the total time for an undergraduate and law degree,” LaVerne McQuiller-Williams, interim dean for the RIT College of Liberal Arts, said. “This new partnership enables our students not only to get a jump on their legal careers, in many cases student will save on tuition and living expenses.”

Freedom Commons in Syracuse recognized for energy design

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering, Subscriber Only

SYRACUSE — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized the Freedom Commons housing development at 450 Burt St. in Syracuse as a LEED Homes Awards recipient in the Outstanding Affordable Project category. Freedom Commons was developed and operated by the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) and the Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA), per a July

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Freedom Commons was developed and operated by the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) and the Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA), per a July 22 news release from the organizations. The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) in November 2019 announced the completion of the $14.6 million project.

LEED is short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Development. The Washington, D.C.–based USGBC developed the green-building rating system.

The awards recognize LEED-certified residential projects that are “positively” impacting communities through “sustainable, healthy and resilient” design.

“SHA is extremely proud of winning the LEED award as it represents the kind of high-quality infrastructure and investment that is needed in this economically disadvantaged community,” William Simmons, executive director of the Syracuse Housing Authority, said in the release.

Based on the Fortune Society’s Castle and Castle Gardens project, Freedom Commons is a multi-phase housing model offering affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and transitional housing for people returning home from jail or prison.

The Fortune Society is a New York City–based nonprofit organization that provides support to the formerly incarcerated.

About the property

Co-developed by Norstar Development USA and designed by SWBR, Freedom Commons includes 54 units of affordable and supportive housing as well as a transitional residence that houses about 11 recently incarcerated individuals returning to the Syracuse community. The building encompasses nearly 73,000 square feet.

The building, constructed by Norstar Building Corporation and VIP Structures, Inc., includes a “high performing” mechanical system with high-efficient gas furnaces and central hot-water systems; a super insulated building envelope including a combined R-23 combined wall insulation with R-5 continuous rigid insulation and 2×6 walls with batt insulation; LED (light-emitting diode) lighting, and Energy Star-qualified appliances throughout the building; low-flow water fixtures with WaterSense labels; and a “healthy” indoor air environment with dedicated energy recovery ventilation, and individual mechanical system control for occupants.

“Freedom Commons not only provides modern, affordable housing with critical on-site support services but is an anchor for future redevelopment efforts in the community. As a LEED Gold-certified building, it is a modern and a highly visible addition to the area and will positively impact many residents of the City of Syracuse community,” Linda Goodman, senior VP at Norstar Development USA, L.P., said.

Funding for the construction of Freedom Commons was provided by New York State Homes & Community Renewal; the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corp.; the New York State Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance Homeless Housing & Assistance Corp.; Key Community Development Corporation; KeyBank N.A.; the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York; Central New York Community Foundation, Inc.; the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative, and the Onondaga County Department of Social Services.

About the local organizations

The Center for Community Alternatives says it provides community-based alternatives to incarceration and promotes “reintegrative justice and a reduced reliance on incarceration” through advocacy, services, and public-policy development in pursuit of civil and human rights. CCA operates a local office at 115 E. Jefferson St. in Syracuse, along with offices in Rochester and New York City, per its website.

The Syracuse Housing Authority says it works to provide “quality, safe, and affordable” housing, to create opportunities for residents’ “self-sufficiency and economic independence,” and to “empower individual potential in an environment where people want to live, work, and build communities.”

Contractors finish work on improvement projects at two Jefferson County beaches

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Construction workers have recently wrapped up work on improvement projects at both Southwick Beach State Park and Westcott Beach State Park in Jefferson County. The projects are the “first major improvements to the popular beachfront parks in 50 years,” according to a release from the office Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The upgrades at Southwick Beach feature

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Construction workers have recently wrapped up work on improvement projects at both Southwick Beach State Park and Westcott Beach State Park in Jefferson County.

The projects are the “first major improvements to the popular beachfront parks in 50 years,” according to a release from the office Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The upgrades at Southwick Beach feature a new bathhouse and concession building, along with restored dunes and new “green” parking lots that “enhance resiliency and protection of water quality,” Cuomo’s office said.

The work at Westcott Beach included eight new “accessible” cottages, with kitchens and bathrooms. The cottages were built on a bluff with a “commanding view of the lake,” per the release.

Southwick Beach work

Southwick Beach State Park has a 112-site campground and is the “busiest” day-use state park in the Thousand Islands region, drawing more than 1.1 million visitors during the last decade, per Cuomo’s office.

Funding for the project came from the NY Parks 2020 initiative and a $1 million grant from the Environmental Facilities Corporation.

The recently completed improvements include a new concession kitchen and camp store; a public-gathering space with outdoor fireplace, patio area, walkways and three rental pavilions; new showers, changing areas, and restroom space; laundry room for patron use; a games arcade; a new entrance drive and sidewalk/bike path connection to campsites; and a lifeguard and first-aid station.

The project also included several features to protect the park’s natural resources, the state said.

They include new parking lots that have storm-water systems, bio-retention ponds, and a combination of standard asphalt pavement, porous pavement, reinforced grass paver parking, and overflow grass parking, all of which help filter pollutants from stormwater runoff and protect Lake Ontario’s water quality.

The restored and “enhanced” dunes will reduce erosion from high water events, as well as improve wildlife shoreline habitat. The dunes include a new wooden boardwalk and a day-use area with shade trees.

Westcott Beach work

Located on Henderson Bay in Jefferson County, Westcott Beach includes a sandy beach, 168 campsites, a marina, and more than three miles of hiking trails. The $3.94 million project was funded through the NY Parks 2020 initiative.

The park’s new cottage colony will be open late May through Columbus Day each year. Each cottage has a master bedroom on the ground floor with a queen size bed, an additional bedroom on the ground floor with two twin beds and a loft area containing three twin beds.

Living areas have a sofa, chairs, and a propane fireplace for heating during the spring and fall seasons.

The kitchen, living room, and loft area provide views of Lake Ontario through a full glass wall facing the lake, per the release. Exterior amenities include a patio with four Adirondack chairs, an accessible picnic table, fire ring, and a grill for cooking.

O’Reilly Auto Parts construction site work revs up in Fulton

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FULTON — Construction site work continues on Aug. 3 for the future O’Reilly Auto Parts store in the city of Fulton. O’Reilly Auto Parts Enterprises LLC purchased the property at 28 W. First St. in Fulton back on May 30, 2017 from Rome Gas Inc. for $350,000, CNYBJ reported in its Aug. 7, 2017 issue.

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Erie Canalway Trail expansion to connect Ilion to Mohawk

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Regional News, Subscriber Only

Pre-construction activities have started on a new section of the Erie Canalway Trail between Ilion and Mohawk in Herkimer County. The new 1.9-mile trail will help to close a nearly 20-mile gap in the Mohawk Valley section of the Empire State Trail, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a July 31 news release.

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Pre-construction activities have started on a new section of the Erie Canalway Trail between Ilion and Mohawk in Herkimer County.

The new 1.9-mile trail will help to close a nearly 20-mile gap in the Mohawk Valley section of the Empire State Trail, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a July 31 news release.

The project was approved at the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the New York State Canal Corporation board meeting in late July.

NYPA and the Canal Corporation have selected Carver Construction of Altamont in Albany County to build the new trail that will connect the village of Ilion to the village of Mohawk. The state expects crews will have the new trail “substantially completed” by December of this year.

As part of the Empire State Trail System, the Erie Canalway Trail is an outdoor tourism and recreation destination that connects communities, drives tourism, and boosts local economies along New York’s iconic Erie Canal, the state says. This project includes a 10-foot wide, 1.9-mile long asphalt path and a 130-foot long pedestrian bridge over Fulmer Creek. Once complete, it will connect the Frankfort to Ilion trail segment to the existing Mohawk trail.

The Ilion to Mohawk trail is one of four projects in the Mohawk Valley that are part of an initiative to close a nearly 20-mile gap in the Erie Canalway Trail. The other three — Lock E-18 to Route 167 (2.2 miles), Frankfort to Ilion (2.4 miles) and Utica to Dyke Road (3.5 miles) — are currently under construction and will also be completed by the end of 2020.

“Expanding the Erie Canalway Trail in the Mohawk Valley region is essential for New Yorkers as we continue to navigate this novel pandemic,” Brian Stratton, director of the Canal Corporation, said. “New Yorkers need safe and social-distance friendly locations for recreation and fitness and the Erie Canalway Trail provides an alternative to the gym and can be a great outdoor adventure for the family.”

In January 2017, Cuomo announced the Empire State Trail, a new initiative to enhance outdoor recreation, community vitality, and tourism development. Once completed, the Empire State Trail will be a continuous 750-mile route spanning the state from New York City to Canada and Buffalo to Albany, “creating the longest multi-use state trail in the nation,” the state says.

“This latest expansion of the Erie Canalway Trail will provide New Yorkers with more opportunity to walk, bike and run alongside some of our most unique natural resources while getting a firsthand look at the state’s historic infrastructure and heritage,” Cuomo said in the release.

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