Wynn Hospital readies for fall opening

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UTICA — Nearly four years after breaking ground on the Wynn Hospital, officials at Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) can see the finish line. However, there is still a lot that needs to happen before the planned Oct. 29 opening date. At this point, much of the construction work is done or close to complete […]

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At this point, much of the construction work is done or close to complete on the more than $600 million project, so the focus now shifts to preparing for operations, Darlene Stromstad, president and CEO of MVHS, tells CNYBJ in an interview.

“We are not just picking up two hospitals and putting them into a new building,” she notes. “We are basically redeveloping the way we provide health care.”

The nursing model is changing, as is the layout of where various services are located. New information-technology platforms are being implemented and everyone needs to learn where the fire extinguishers and emergency exits are located.

“Everybody will go through safety drills, OSHA drills,” Stromstad says. All the computers need to be working and the phones up and running so employees can hit the ground running on Oct. 29 when the facility goes live.

“The concept of a new facility is becoming very real,” says Stromstad.

The process leading up to this new facility began several years ago with a deep look at the health-care needs of the community, she notes. MVHS knew it needed a new hospital, and it wanted to make sure that facility focused on the services the area needs. That includes cardiology, stroke/neurology, maternity care, and all surgical services, she says.

MVHS then took that information to Seattle, Washington–based architecture firm NBBJ to design the building with an eye to infection prevention and patient privacy. MVHS then hired Providence, Rhode Island–based firm Gilbane Building Company, which has offices in Albany and Rochester, to build it.

The 10-story, 702,000-square-foot hospital includes 373 beds with about 30 private rooms on each of nine floors, 47 emergency department treatment spaces, a quick-access elevator connecting the emergency department to the birthing center, dedicated food/delivery elevators separate from patient/visitor elevators, conference and meeting space located on the edges of departments to allow for shared use, and design/layout elements to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors.

“It is a really magnificent building,” Stromstad contends. “It all makes such great sense today.” Patient areas are separate from visitor areas, and services are located in places where it makes sense, such as radiology located right next to the emergency department.

Overall, the hospital will be easier to navigate for staff and patients alike, she says. A lot of thought was put into the main entrance and emergency department entrance. Greeters will be on hand to help patients get to where they need to be. “Many of our patients do not speak English as their first language,” Stromstad says, so there will be interpreters stationed near the entrances as well.

MVHS is planning an Oct. 15 event to give the public the chance to tour the building before it is occupied. Then, the Wynn Hospital will be open for business on Oct. 29.

The health system is working with Health Care Relocations, a Canadian company with U.S. offices in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to facilitate the move.

“They have moved more than 500 hospitals, so they know what they are doing,” Stromstad says.

Hammes Company, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based health-care consulting firm has served as a project-management company to facilitate the project.

Funding for the $611 million Wynn Hospital project comes from a $300 million grant from the New York State Department of Health and a $50 million donation from casino magnate Steve Wynn’s family foundation. MVHS also secured $180 million in financing through Barclays, a multinational investment bank and financial-services company.

Earlier this year, the Oneida Indian Nation donated $1 million, and John and Deanna Sammon contributed $1.5 million.

Formed in 2014, MVHS is an affiliation between St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare, which also includes MVHS Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Visiting Nurse Association of Utica and Oneida County, and Senior Network Health.

MVHS is working with the City of Utica for its St. Elizabeth campus and Oneida County for its St. Luke’s campus on requests for proposals for reuse of those legacy hospital buildings.

New Utica University president begins duties

Health Care, Regional News, Subscriber Only

UTICA — When Todd Pfannestiel and his wife, Aimee Zellers, were learning about Utica University and he had a chance to interview for the provost position, he says he’d always had an ambition to become a university president. “I knew from the time I first arrived here at Utica that this would be the institution

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“I knew from the time I first arrived here at Utica that this would be the institution that I really wanted the opportunity to lead,” Pfannestiel says.

After serving as Utica University’s provost since 2018, Pfannestiel is now leading the institution as the school’s 10th president.

He succeeds Laura Casamento, who retired from the role July 31 after a seven-year tenure as president. Pfannestiel’s appointment went into effect Aug. 1.

He spoke with CNYBJ on June 30.

Pfannestiel remembers getting the call that the chair of the board of trustees asked to meet with him. As an internal candidate for the job, Pfannestiel understood the timeline for finding a successor well and knew whatever decision the university made would be coming likely within that day, calling it a “nervous” day.

“But when I got the call that afternoon to meet with him and then had that discussion, it was a relief that the search was concluded; excitement that really my dream to lead this institution was coming to fruition and every day since then has just been taking that excitement to a new level,” he says.

Pfannestiel begins his duties as president just weeks before the start of a new academic year. At the same time. Utica’s dean of business and justice studies begins his role serving as the school’s interim provost.

“There’ll be some changes in academic affairs structure moving forward as well,” Pfannestiel notes. “It’s a matter of just getting all the right people in positions in the right places.”

He begins as Utica University’s top official knowing the university has strong data for enrollment heading into the upcoming academic year. In a March 22 school news release, Utica University said at the time first-year student deposits at the school were higher than they have been in more than 10 years, up 45 percent year-over-year.

“The report that I just received shows that our number of freshmen and transfer deposits together is still up 34 percent over last year, so it’s remained consistently high,” he told CNYBJ in the June 30 interview.

Pfannestiel credits the work of the university’s admissions and enrollment-management team. He also believes college students have quickly recovered from the pandemic.

“If you compare them to our staff, our faculty, what is clear is that students want to return for a traditional college experience, [something] many of whom never had an opportunity to take part in over the past two years,” he says.

President’s background

Pfannestiel has 25 years of experience in higher education, as a faculty member, school dean, and senior administrator. Throughout the course of his tenure as provost and senior VP for academic affairs at Utica University, he has led and collaborated closely with faculty on a variety of initiatives to raise the academic profile of the university and further its mission.

Prior to joining Utica University, Pfannestiel served on the faculty of Clarion University of Pennsylvania for 20 years, earning the rank of professor of history. During his time at Clarion, he also served as dean of the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, interim provost, and acting president.

Pfannestiel earned his Ph.D. in history from the College of William and Mary, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Foundation fellow in the Humanities; completed post-graduate studies at Duke University as a National Science Foundation graduate fellow in economics and completed his bachelor’s degree in history and economics at the University of Arkansas as a Fulbright College scholar.

A native of Oklahoma, Pfannestiel and his wife, Aimee Zellers, an associate professor of philosophy at Carlow University, reside in Sauquoit, Utica University said.

New Upstate Caring Partners name better reflects agency’s work and mission

Health Care, Nonprofits, Regional News, Subscriber Only

UTICA — Upstate Caring Partners (UCP) has gone through several changes in recent years, from a change in leadership to its change to the Upstate Caring Partners name earlier this year. The new name reflects the growing role the organization plays in caring for the community it serves. The agency began in 1950, started by

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The agency began in 1950, started by a group of grandparents and parents whose children had cerebral palsy. Then known as United Cerebral Palsy, the organization initially served seven children from the basement of Kernan Elementary School in Utica. Around 2010, the agency changed its name to Upstate Cerebral Palsy. Louis Tehan joined the organization in 1979 and led as its CEO until he retired in 2018.

Today, the nonprofit’s scope goes well beyond just serving those with cerebral palsy. UCP says it is now a leader in special education, residential and community services, as well as a provider of behavioral-health services to people in the Mohawk Valley and beyond.

“Our name had become a misnomer,” UCP Executive Director Geno DeCondo says. The agency’s services have grown and diversified so much that it was a disservice to have cerebral palsy in the name. The former name ignored the services UCP provides in the areas of substance-abuse and mental-health treatment, as well as its work with autism patients. In fact, he says, autism is now the leading diagnosis the agency sees.

That’s why the nonprofit started off this year with the new name. “The caring partners piece really resonated with us as it’s really what we see our role as,” DeCondo says.

UCP is also changing more than just its name, he notes. It’s working hard on implementing a new clinical model in its educational, residential, and community programs in an effort to achieve better outcomes for the people it serves.

“We went out and consulted with some of what we consider the best experts in the field,” DeCondo says, and developed a model that works to understand physical health and how it impacts behavioral health.

Previously, a lot of time was spent managing behavior and just trying to get through the behavior, he says. “We said, ‘There’s got to be more here.’”

Under the new model, understanding physical-health factors that lead to behavioral-health issues has made a huge difference. For many of UCP’s clients, things such as an inability to communicate or chronic pain influence behavior. Mitigating those factors often results in a rapid improvement in behavior, and that’s where the magic happens, DeCondo says. “This puts people in a position where they can build skills and learn,” he adds.

The change has had such positive results that UCP hired a doctorate-level researcher to collect and share data with other organizations to help them.

The new model has also attracted some top-notch talent to UCP, which has gone from having just one or two behavioral analysts to now boasting about 20.

UCP is also expanding and improving its behavioral-health model, primarily through its new Giotto Center Community Health and Behavioral Services facility. The agency celebrated the grand opening in May.

The new center is the culmination of three years of work, says Jenni Barlow-Gagnon, EVP of behavioral health services at UCP. Previously, services were provided at three separate locations, which created barriers for those seeking help.

The new 17,000-square-foot space brings behavioral services together under one roof at 1002 Oswego St. in Utica. Not only is the new location conveniently located along public transit routes, but it’s also right next door to Upstate Family Health Center, a longtime partner of UCP, to provide primary and pharmacy care.

UCP provides a wide array of additional services including early intervention, pre-school, the Tradewinds Education Center for students ages 5 to 21 with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, residential programs for those unable to live at home, respite/self-direction/community/day habilitation programs to provide relief to caregivers, employment/vocational services, and the Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities assistive-technology program.

With an annual budget of nearly $110 million, Upstate Caring Partners operates 74 locations and serves more than 7,000 individuals annually with a staff of more than 1,600 employees.

VIEWPOINT: Changing the narrative on manufacturing jobs

Business Mentors, Manufacturing & Engineering, Subscriber Only

It’s key to developing the next generation of manufacturing workers I recently asked a roomful of eighth graders, “Close your eyes and picture yourself walking down a street. You come across a manufacturing plant. What do you see?” They imagined broken sidewalks, weeds, tall fences, and ugly brick buildings emitting thick, black smoke. Their responses

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It’s key to developing the next generation of manufacturing workers

I recently asked a roomful of eighth graders, “Close your eyes and picture yourself walking down a street. You come across a manufacturing plant. What do you see?”

They imagined broken sidewalks, weeds, tall fences, and ugly brick buildings emitting thick, black smoke. Their responses were familiar — I’d heard them before in other classrooms. They were repeating negative stereotypes that have dominated the storyline about manufacturing jobs for decades.

This representation couldn’t be further from the truth. But its long-term impact on recruitment is very real. It’s time to change the narrative.

There’s a major disconnect between students’ perceptions and the reality of advanced manufacturing in New York state. We should open young people’s eyes to industries such as microelectronics and semiconductors, whose workers are in brand new, state-of-the-art facilities with multimillion-dollar equipment. It’s a high-tech, fast-moving environment with well-paying jobs.

Many of these skilled jobs are going unfilled, contributing to a workforce shortage that, if unaddressed, could hamper New York state’s ability to take advantage of increasing demand for advanced manufacturing production.

At the Advanced Institute for Manufacturing (AIM) — the Mohawk Valley region’s center for the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership working with Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) — we hear these concerns frequently. Across the board, small- to mid-sized enterprises in our geographic footprint struggle to fill open positions as baby boomers retire and the next generations of talented men and women overlook the manufacturing sector.

Addressing these labor shortages means pushing back against misperceptions, showcasing start-of-the-art facilities, and demonstrating that advanced manufacturing is an industry suited to build an interesting and stimulating career.

At AIM and MVCC, we manage two programs for companies to help them build their workforce: the SUNY Apprenticeship Program (SAP) and the New York College Apprenticeship Network (NYCAN). Both involve an earn-and-learn model, where companies give their employees flexibility both to work and attend related instruction at local community colleges. The program, which covers tuition costs, allows companies to fill high-skill and high-demand positions while offering new employees a path to earning those advanced qualifications.

Along with cultivating the talent already within a company’s ranks, the apprenticeship programs serve as a recruitment tool for new hires. Younger generations want to work someplace where they feel valued. They want to feel like they’re making an impact by contributing to their organization. Formal participation in apprenticeship programs demonstrates to potential workers a company’s commitment to employee growth and wellbeing — attributes that attract Gen Z applicants.

But formal apprenticeship programs are just one piece of the puzzle. Manufacturers that have successfully addressed workforce issues employ an ongoing, multi-layered approach. In addition to apprenticeships, they connect with community colleges, high schools, and BOCES programs. They participate in school visits known as “Manufacturing Days” and attend career fairs, speaking directly to students to change their perspectives on career opportunities available in advanced manufacturing.

They connect with regional New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers, like AIM, which are teaming with experts available to help guide and support small to mid-sized manufacturing companies.

In other words, these employers are showing young people what manufacturing in New York state is all about — exposing them to facilities and careers that capture the imagination. To hear it from someone like me, in a classroom, is one thing; to experience it is another.

It takes time to change perceptions, but companies investing in all the pieces — from SUNY Apprenticeship Programs to getting in front of the next generation of employees — will help manufacturing write a new story, one that is more reflective of the advanced nature of the work and more enticing to a younger workforce.

Cory Albrecht is the director of the Advanced Institute for Manufacturing (AIM) at Mohawk Valley Community College.

Utica Public Library plans exterior improvements

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Nonprofits, Regional News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism, Subscriber Only

UTICA — After investing almost $1 million into the interior of the building, the Utica Public Library is now turning its sights toward sprucing up the outside of the building that opened in 1904. The library will use a combination of $101,900 in state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding, plus a $22,300 Community Development Block Grant

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UTICA — After investing almost $1 million into the interior of the building, the Utica Public Library is now turning its sights toward sprucing up the outside of the building that opened in 1904.

The library will use a combination of $101,900 in state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding, plus a $22,300 Community Development Block Grant to spruce up the front of the library, which faces Genesee Street.

“We’re replacing a semi-arch walkway that leads to the front of the building,” says Chris Sagaas, library director. Several bluestone pillars will also receive some work. “We anticipate this will happen in late summer or fall,” he adds.

The Utica Public Library, along with Munson and the Thea Bowman House, serves as a quality-of-life anchor along Utica’s Genesee Street, Sagaas says, and the goal for the area is to improve quality of life, make it more walkable, and improve traffic conditions for safety.

“This is one step in what we hope to be a continuing revitalization and reinvestment in the area,” he says of all the work the library has planned.

Beyond fixing up the walkway and pillars, the library is also preparing to oversee the community garden space it offers on its one-plus-acre campus

“We expect we’ll be jumping further into that as August approaches,” Sagaas says of the garden space. The library is working to coordinate various volunteers from colleges or community organizations to help “remodel” the space with new garden beds.

In September, the Utica Public Library will keep to a garden theme as it hosts the District V of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State annual flower show. This is the third time hosting for the library, and it’s just one of many events and activities the library offers throughout the year.

Today’s library is about so much more than checking out a book to read, Sagaas notes. The library serves as an important resource for many, especially those who don’t have reliable access to the internet at home due to financial constraints or lack of availability.

For those who do have technology available, the library is continually growing its collection of e-content, he adds. “Fifty percent of our materials budget goes to e-content now,” Sagaas says. That includes access to things like the New York Times, a comics database, and even Wi-Fi expanders to boost the internet range into the surrounding neighborhood.

The Utica Public Library is also working more closely with organizations like the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce, Sagaas says. The library’s goal is to work with local vendors whenever it can, especially since there is state construction funding for libraries to use with local contractors and businesses. That makes libraries drivers of the local economy, he adds.

“We support local as much as possible,” Sagaas says. As part of its interior upgrades, the library purchased two desks from Utica company Hale Manufacturing for a cost of about $40,000.

The Utica Public Library is working with Utica costume and puppet company, Geppetto Studios, Inc., along with the Players of Utica’s local actors and storytellers, to host Professor Lalli’s Library of Curiosities. The library received $5,000 in funding from CNY Art’s community regrants program for the event.

The walk-through scary experience, geared toward adults, is just another way the library adds to the area’s entertainment and quality of life, Sagaas says.

“More people are coming back to use us,” he says, so it’s important the library offers something for everybody.

AmeriCU appoints small-business relationship manager for Mohawk Valley region

Banks & Credit Unions, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Nonprofits, People on the Move, Regional News, Small Business, Subscriber Only

ROME, N.Y. — AmeriCU Credit Union has created a new role of small business-relationship manager of the Mohawk Valley to help support the growth and success of local small businesses and has promoted Michael Cook to fill the role. Cook will provide tailored guidance and assistance to help businesses achieve their financial goals. AmeriCU contends

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Micron buys Clay property to provide on-site employee daycare

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Health Care, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Manufacturing & Engineering, New York News, Technology

CLAY, N.Y. — Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) on Wednesday said it bought a parcel of land on Caughdenoy Road in the town of Clay

Syracuse University selects new dean of Falk College

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, Health Care, New York News, Nonprofits, People on the Move, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University has selected the next dean of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. The university describes Jeremy

MVHS adds new surgical robot

Health Care, New York News, Nonprofits, Regional News, Technology

UTICA, N.Y. — Mohawk Valley Health System’s (MVHS) St. Elizabeth Medical Campus is now home to a new daVinci XI robot, at least for now.

Syracuse, Rochester–based firms partner to acquire Great Northern Mall property

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Health Care, Law, Accounting & Taxes

HLC and Conifer Realty bought the property for about $9 million, according to Hart. The acquisition closed on July 28, Lara Schwager, executive vice president

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