UTICA, N.Y. — John Sammon, chair emeritus and founder of PAR Technology Corp. in New Hartford, called the birthing center at the upcoming Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) Wynn Hospital in Utica a “priority” for his family.

“It will offer our community a range of services and support for expectant mothers including prenatal care, childbirth education and lactation support — all of which promote healthy pregnancies, successful childbirth experiences and positive outcomes for both the mother and baby,” Sammon said in an MVHS news release. “We are honored that the floor will carry our family’s name as it provides care to future generations, and we are so grateful to be able to give back to the place we call home.”

MVHS says it will name the maternal child-services floor at the upcoming Wynn Hospital the Sammon Family Birthing Center. 

The decision follows a $1.5 million donation to the MVHS Foundation’s “This is for You” Campaign, by John and Deanna Sammon and their daughter and son-in-law Karen Sammon and Will Cardamone, MVHS said. 

The Sammon Family Birthing Center in the Wynn Hospital will handle more than 1,250 births annually, MVHS noted.

Located on the fourth floor, the center will include two antepartum rooms, three triage rooms, eight LDR (labor, delivery & recovery) rooms, two operating rooms (for C-sections) with three recovery rooms, 20 private postpartum rooms, eight individual Level II NICU rooms, and the butterfly room, per MVHS. 

“We deeply appreciate the Sammon Family’s extraordinary gift,” Darlene Stromstad, president and CEO of MVHS, said in the release. “Their commitment to this project reflects their dedication to the health of those in the Mohawk Valley, especially to our littlest patients and their mothers. Their belief and support in our mission and vision for healthcare in our region is reflective in their generosity and I know our Maternal Child Team, our patients and hospital leadership share in my gratitude for their philanthropic investment.”

MVHS also recently announced the approval of the new OB/GYN residency program, which will “enhance” coverage within the health system and in the Sammon Family Birthing Center, MVHS contends. 

This four-year program has been granted initial accreditation status for 16 residents in total (four per year), with the first four residents starting on July 1 of this year.

About the fundraising campaign

The $30 million “This is for You” Campaign is the largest fundraising campaign in the history of MVHS, as it continues building a new health-care campus in Utica, an effort it calls a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to “better serve our region and transform healthcare in Central New York.” 

The Wynn Hospital, scheduled to open in October, will be the flagship of its new clinical campus and will bring existing hospital services, currently located on two different campuses, to one modern downtown campus. It features a 703,000-square-foot hospital and Central Utility Plant, located on a 25-acre parcel adjacent to the downtown Utica business district, 373 private patient rooms and a 63 bed Emergency Department with a Level III Trauma Center capable of 90,000 patient visits each year. 

MVHS also says it has received approval for residency programs for psychiatry, general surgery, podiatry, obstetrics/gynecology as well as a transitional-year program. As these programs come online, more than 200 physician learners will be on the Wynn Hospital clinical campus and throughout the MVHS medical community, MVHS said.