SYRACUSE — The Upstate Medical University College of Nursing wants to increase the number of family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (FPMHNP) in rural communities and in “medically underserved” communities, “such as Syracuse.”

It’ll use grant funding worth more than $1.8 million as it pursues the goal. 

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the four-year grant, Upstate Medical said in a news release.

The grant is part of the HRSA’s behavioral-health workforce education training program (BHWET), designed to develop a “culturally competent and diverse” workforce.

Upstate’s College of Nursing will use the grant primarily to expand the school’s recruitment efforts to attract nurses from the targeted communities to its master’s and doctorate degree programs that specialize in family psychiatric mental health. 

The nurse-practitioner students will focus on the management of patients with psychiatric disorders and comorbidities, such as substance abuse, and the integration of behavioral health into primary care. 

Upon graduation, the expectation is that these FPMHNPs will practice in “medically underserved” and/or rural areas.

Providing stipends

The grant’s first year will provide up to 20 stipends to nurses enrolled in the college’s FPMHNP master’s degree program, Bambi Carkey, assistant professor in the College of Nursing, said in the release. 

Up to three stipends will be provided to FPMHNPs enrolled in the college’s doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree program. The number of stipends will increase in each of the remaining three years. 

“We are very excited about this HRSA award,” said Carkey. She serves as director of the FPMHNP program and principal investigator on the grant.

In addition, the HRSA-BHWET team also includes Karen Klingman, grant director; Alice Boyce, data manager; and Joyce Scarpinato, who serves as assistant dean for graduate programs, as well as director of the DNP program, and chief nursing administrator for the College of Nursing.

Other grant benefits

In addition to providing stipends, the grant will also increase the college’s capacity to provide clinical experiences in behavioral health care for rural communities and those which are “medically underserved.” 

The college is currently partnering with community-based behavioral agencies throughout the region. The grant will also be used toward increasing the number of preceptors in each partnering agency and providing preceptors faculty development sessions. 

The award will “enhance” the education of FPMHNP students, clinical preceptors, and faculty through the “dynamics” of working on “interprofessional teams that focus on the social determinants of health, common comorbid medical/psychiatric problems, and the opioid epidemic,” Upstate Medical said. 

The grant will also add a student-success specialist who will support stipend recipients, and additional FPMHNP faculty will be jointly appointed to the College of Nursing and the department of psychiatry through the grant.

BALDWINSVILLE — Solvay Bank’s planned new office in the village of Baldwinsville is expected to open in early 2018. 

The new 3,2000-square-foot branch will be located at 197 Downer St., the site of a former branch of First Niagara Bank.

The new office will be Solvay Bank’s 10th branch.

Solvay Bank plans to hire five people to work at the branch, according to Karen Tracy, senior VP and the bank’s chief business strategy and marketing officer. 

The Baldwinsville office will be a “smart” branch, designed to integrate banking-technology tools with personalized customer service. 

“Extensive” renovations to the existing structure and property started in early fall, according to Tracy. 

Zeck Builders Inc. of Camillus is the construction firm, she says. A sign at the construction site indicates that a firm called Norcott Contracting is also working on the project.

It appears that construction crews have knocked down much of the interior walls and features of the former First Niagara building but kept the same foundation and much of the building’s structural shell.

Solvay Bank declined to disclose the cost of the construction work. 

The bank paid $565,000 to buy the property — a 2,900-square-foot-building on nearly 1.2 acres of land — from prior owner John Szczech, according to Onondaga County’s online property records. The sale closed on June 23 of this year. The property is currently assessed at $200,000. It had previously sold for $700,000 in January 2016. 

The office will have an open floor plan that will include a tech bar, an area where employees will offer hands-on demonstrations of digital products for both consumer and business clients, according to Solvay Bank.

“Branch staff roles have evolved from being strictly transactional to being a source of knowledge on financial-technology products,” Paul Mello, president and CEO of Solvay Bank, said in a statement. “We are going to create an atmosphere of engagement, where folks can experience all that we have to offer or simply to ask a question about a particular loan or deposit product.”

The upcoming Solvay Bank Baldwinsville branch is located across the street from an M&T Bank office.

Founded in 1917, Solvay Bank (OTC: SOBS) says it is the “largest” independent commercial bank headquartered and operating in Onondaga County. Its corporate offices are located at 1537 Milton Avenue in Solvay. 

Solvay Bank also has a branch at the Milton Avenue location as well as eight additional branches located in Camillus, Cicero, DeWitt, Fairmount, Liverpool, North Syracuse, downtown Syracuse, and Westvale. It also owns Solvay Bank Insurance Agency, Inc.

To promote the upcoming branch, Solvay Bank has in recent weeks run billboards on I-690, with the tagline: “B’ville See You Soon.” That slogan also appears on a sign at the construction site.