SYRACUSE — Associated Medical Professionals of NY, PLLC, is currently renovating part of its main clinical office in Syracuse, located at 1226 East Water St., after it freed up space by moving 45 administrative staff to a new corporate headquarters in the town of Salina earlier this summer.

Its new headquarters is in an office building at 100 Metropolitan Park Drive, in a space topping 8,000 square feet, according to Christopher Williamson, chief operating officer at Associated Medical Professionals (AMP).

AMP is a multi-specialty medical practice. It was established when three practices — Syracuse Urology Associates, P.C., Associated Urologists of CNY, and Syracuse Radiation Oncology — merged in 2008, according to the AMP website. It has since merged with six additional practices, Williamson says in an email, and has 12 locations across Central New York.

Establishing a new corporate headquarters for administrative staff was necessary because the space in the Syracuse location, which spans 37,000 square feet and housed both clinical and administrative departments, was maxed out, according to Williamson. Parking at the Syracuse office, which previously served as headquarters, was also at capacity.

The departments that comprise AMP’s business center — such as administration, operations, billing, accounting, human resources, and compliance — were moved to the Salina office and centralized, says Williamson. The information technology and electronic medical records departments remain at the Syracuse office, he adds.

As a result of the space freed up in Syracuse, AMP has doubled the size of its clinical research department — comprised of six staff with 40 active clinical trials — and is currently working to expand its laboratory and pathology department, Williamson tells CNYBJ.

The medical practice hired Syracuse–based CBD Companies, located at 125 East Jefferson St., to handle the renovations, which are expected to be complete by Sept. 1, according to Williamson.

AMP also needs to grow its clinical space for the urology, radiation, and imaging departments, he adds. The practice plans to bring in some new employees for the research department in the coming months, he adds. He couldn’t specify the number.

AMP entered into a five-year lease agreement with 100 Metropolitan Park, LLC, which owns the Salina building, without the use of a broker. The contract includes renewal options, according to Williamson, who declines to disclose financial terms of the contract.

The administrative office space required minor work before it was ready to be occupied, such as the installation of walls and doors, and some fresh paint, which the owner quickly completed, Williamson says. He did not disclose the exact cost of the work, but says it is partly built into the lease, with the rest covered through a mix of cash and financing.

Williamson toured more than 25 buildings in recent years in search of a space to which to expand. AMP knew of the building in Salina, which is perfect for AMP’s needs, he says, adding that it is large enough to allow for continued administrative growth.

In 2010, AMP purchased a 17,000-square-foot building that had been adjacent to its Syracuse office at the time, and attached the two buildings, says Williamson.

Then, in 2011, AMP merged with four more practices (Urology Consultants of Syracuse, P.C., Urology Specialists of CNY, P.C., Mohawk Valley Urology, P.C., and Utica Urology Associates, P.C., according to the AMP website), which helped to quickly max out the additional space the medical practice had added the previous year, says Williamson.

AMP plans to recruit two or three new physicians in the next year to keep up with the aging population, says Williamson, but isn’t currently looking to acquire or merge with another practice.

“We don’t see that coming in the next five years because there are no other groups that we want to merge with at this point,” he told CNYBJ.

AMP is owned by 23 physician partners, and currently employs 250 people, according to Williamson. He declined to disclose revenue.

Williamson did say that the practice has steadily grown in volume and gross revenue, but cash collections haven’t always reflected that because its 

reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurers have decreased every year since AMP was formed, partially offsetting the revenue gains.

Moving forward, Williamson says AMP will continue to be proactive and stay ahead of the curve in quality patient care.