ROME — Rome Mayor Jacqueline Izzo called it a “very proud day” in the city of Rome. 

She made the comment to open her remarks at the July 2 announcement of the 11 projects that will benefit from Rome’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) award.

“This is the culmination of part of our effort and the beginning of a more robust time now where we will put these projects in motion and I hope that you’ll be back for a lot of ribbon cuttings,” Izzo told the gathering at Rome’s campus of Mohawk Valley Community College.

The projects in downtown Rome “will drive advanced manufacturing job growth, transform public spaces, improve walkability and transportation access,” the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release. 

The state announced Rome as the Mohawk Valley winner in the second round of the DRI competition last September. 

The projects

The projects will include a $2.5 million exterior and interior renovations of the Capitol Theatre, which is described as a “major arts and cultural tourism destination for the region and an anchor institution for the downtown [area].” 

They’ll also include construction of a $900,000 advanced-manufacturing facility. The 50,000-square-foot building will be located on the brownfield site of the former Rome Cable Complex 3, Cuomo’s office said. Rome–based Cold Point Corp. plans to expand in the new building, the City of Rome said in an email response to a CNYBJ inquiry.

“[The firm] will secure 35 jobs and they’re going to create 15 more,” Izzo said.

Cold Point Corp. manufactures “replacement and niche market air conditioning and heat-pump units,” according to its website.

Rome will also use $500,000 for a new structure at 183 West Dominick St. that will “meet a demand for high-quality commercial and multi-family residential space.”

The projects will include the demolition of the Liberty George parking garage and installation of a landscaped surface parking lot and open space on the site as a “temporary use” until Rome can secure a developer. That project will cost 

$1.5 million. 

Rome will spend more than $1.2 million for the creation of an expanded public space in City Hall to allow for four-season community programming. 

The projects also include more than $1.3 million improvements to the existing Liberty James Garage. Plans on this project will involve work on an existing walkway; replacing storefront glazing; repairing brick; adding wayfinding signage; repairing garage infrastructure; installing an automated ticketing system; and re-facing the façade.

The projects additionally include using $470,000 to establish a grant fund to leverage private investment in buildings to facilitate business retention, expansion and adaptive reuse. Improvements covered under the fund will include capital improvements and interior/exterior renovations. 

In addition, a $400,000 project will focus on upgrading the City Green to expand opportunities for year-round public use and programming of the green space outside City Hall. Improvements will include an ice skating rink, concert stage, temporary vendor support areas, and seasonal event space.

Rome will also use $250,000 to renovate the REACH Center at 201-211 West Dominick St. to provide 28,000 square feet of arts space on the upper floor, and 10,000 square feet of maker space on the ground floor. 

The projects also include a $400,000 effort to design and construct a new Centro transfer station adjacent to the City Hall parking lot on Liberty Street. 

Finally, Rome will use $150,000 to implement a “wayfinding” system to move residents and visitors through the downtown core.        

SYRACUSE — Geriatrics, the branch of medicine that deals with the health and care of older adults, is the focus of a new clinical department at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.

The creation of a department of geriatrics will bring additional funding for “enhanced” services, faculty positions and research, “all aimed at the care and wellbeing of older adults,” Upstate Medical said in a news release.

Geriatrics’ status as its own department became effective on July 1. It had previously operated as a division of Upstate’s department of medicine, according to its news release.

Its status as a clinical department “recognizes the increase in numbers of older adults and the increasingly complex overlap” with other medical specialties in the care of elderly, Upstate Medical said. 

The medical school joins “only a handful” of other academic health-science institutions across the country that have “elevated” geriatrics to its own clinical department, it added.

Dr. Sharon Brangman, who has led Upstate’s division of geriatrics for 20 years, is the inaugural chair of Upstate Medical’s department of geriatrics. The medical school describes Brangman as a “nationally prominent geriatrician.” 

Brangman, a SUNY distinguished professor, is a former president of the American Geriatrics Society and is a “leading voice” for the care of elderly across the nation, per the release.

“As America ages, we must sharpen our focus to address the issues of the elderly with all aspects of Upstate’s mission: teaching, research and clinical care,” Dr. Danielle Laraque-Arena, Upstate Medical University president and health system CEO, said. “The time is right to make this a priority for our university and with the leadership of Dr. Sharon Brangman we can make great strides in this effort.”

The elevation to a clinical department could also increase the number of residency slots that Upstate Medical offers in geriatrics. It currently supports two fellowships in the specialty.

“I am grateful for the support Upstate has provided for the clinical care and study of diseases that affect our oldest patients,” Brangman said. “The medical world is starting to understand the impact older patients are having on our healthcare system. With the focus on our patients and their families, we must address all aspects of caring for this vulnerable population.”

The decision to elevate the profile of geriatrics at Upstate also was in part a “reflection” by the university to “sharpen its focus” on treating and researching Alzheimer’s disease. That effort “will be supported” with plans for the Nappi Longevity Institute, the new building named for benefactors Sam and Carol Nappi, that will have a “special focus” on healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease. 

Groundbreaking for the building, which will be located at the corner of Almond and East Adams streets in Syracuse, is set for this fall.

The study and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is an “important focus” of geriatric medicine, Upstate Medical said. 

Upstate is already a state-designated Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease (CEAD) that provides patients with “integrated, comprehensive and coordinated” medical services for the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. 

The CEAD also educates health-care providers and students on the detection, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. 

The CEAD serves as a regional resource, serving 15 counties and providing “coordinated delivery of services” to patients and their families which is “essential to allow these individuals to remain at home in their communities for as long as possible.”

Aging population

Statistics indicate that about 15 percent of the U.S. population is 65 and older. By 2050 that percentage will be 22.5 percent, with those individuals who are 85 years of age and older increasing at the fastest rate. 

Many elderly are more active than people their age were years ago, but nearly all individuals over the age of 65 have some chronic illness. 

Upstate Medical cites data from the Arlington, Virginia–based National Council on Aging that indicates about 92 percent of seniors have at least one chronic disease and 77 percent have at least two. Heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes are among the most common and costly chronic-health conditions causing two-thirds of deaths each year.

CICERO — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) is calling on the Social Security Administration (SSA) to pour additional funding into the Syracuse field office to pay for additional staff and equipment.

The Syracuse office has “the longest waits in New York,” said Schumer. “The Syracuse hearing office has a backlog of 9,000 claims. That’s a lot of people…”

Schumer spoke July 2 during a visit to the Cicero Senior Center at 5924 Lathrop Drive in Cicero.

The Syracuse field office has the state’s largest pending-case backlog with more than 9,000 outstanding retirements, supplementary-security income, and disability claims, and the average wait time for a hearing to be processed is more than 620 days, his office said in a release. 

The Syracuse SSA field office received more than 22,000 calls last year, the second most in the state, but only answered 66 percent of calls, Schumer’s office said, citing “recent data.” 

The office is located in the James N. Hanley Federal Building at 100 S. Clinton St. in Syracuse.

SSA funding increase

The Democrat negotiated a $480 million increase in SSA funding, which was included in the recently passed omnibus bill, according to Schumer’s news release. Lawmakers approved the $1.3 billion spending bill in March, which keeps the government in business through the end of September.

The omnibus spending bill provides $12.9 billion for SSA’s administrative budget. It includes an increase for general operations and additional staff, as well as designated amounts of $280 million for information-technology modernization and $100 million for reducing the disability-hearings backlog. 

This important funding increase for the Social Security Administration is “long overdue but certainly much appreciated,” Randy Hoak, AARP associate state director for Central New York, said in his remarks at the Cicero Senior Center.

“Too many AARP members and too many Americans are frustrated by these long waits to get [through to] the Social Security Administration on the phone, if they can get through at all. Too many of our members and too many Americans are frustrated by reduced field-office hours when they try to take care of matters in person,” said Hoak. 

During Hoak’s remarks, Schumer noted the work of AARP that he said helped result in the funding increase for SSA. 

Washington, D.C.–based AARP, which has nearly 38 million members.

SSA office role

Social Security field staff help seniors and those living with disabilities apply for benefits, replace lost Social Security numbers or Medicare cards, apply for retirement benefits, and report changes in their address. 

In 2016, SSA field office employees helped 43 million visitors nationwide and that number will continue to grow with the retirement of additional baby boomers, Schumer’s office said. 

The Omnibus bill helps retain and improve the SSA’s field-office infrastructure, providing a “temporary moratorium” on field office closures that have “disproportionately” impacted New York, according to Schumer’s office. Despite its importance in recent years, the SSA has had its operational capacity “tightly restricted,” it added. 

Since 2010, Congress has cut SSA’s operating budget 11 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars, leading to a loss of more than 10,000 employees including 3,500 field office staff, the closing of 65 field offices, including 12 in New York, and reduced hours in field offices nationwide. 

In Syracuse, in-person visit wait times average nearly a half-hour, Schumer’s office said.