Officials from Kaleida Health and the University at Buffalo were on hand to witness the last sequence of steel erected at the construction site of a new combined $291 million clinical care, research and business incubation building on the Medical Campus. The $291 million structure is taking shape next to Buffalo General Hospital at Goodrich and Ellicott streets.
Kaleida Health President and CEO James R. Kaskie and UB President John B. Simpson signed their names to the last section of steel at a “topping off” ceremony. Kaskie and Simpson’s names join hundreds of other Kaleida Health and UB employees who have marked their place in history by signing the steel.
“This is a transformational project, not just for health care but for all of Western New York,” said Kaskie. “Together with our partners at UB, we are taking reform and turning it into meaningful action. This project is about consolidation, improving efficiencies and designing new ways to deliver care. We are investing precious resources to transform ourselves in direct response to the new economy and the new health care reality.”
The new facility will bring together Kaleida Health physicians and UB researchers in a collaborative effort to deliver state-of-the-art clinical care, produce major breakthroughs on the causes and treatment of vascular disease and spin-off new biotechnology businesses and jobs.
“Our plan for a robust downtown health campus is a centerpiece of our UB 2020 vision for building a great public research university that is the catalyst for a knowledge-based economy in our region,” said Simpson.
The building will house four floors of Kaleida Health’s $173 million merger of its cardiac, stroke and vascular operations, plus a new and expanded emergency department.
It will also house four floors of UB’s research and development facilities, including its $118 million Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) and a UB Biosciences Incubator.
The Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) will expand UB’s focus on translating basic medical research into new treatments and technologies made available for patients. The Biosciences Incubator will provide laboratories, office space and start-up services to companies spun off from UB medical discoveries. At full occupancy, 275 new UB employees will work in the building.
According to studies on the economic effect of biomedicine and biotechnology research, UB’s CTRC and Biosciences Incubator are projected to produce an annual economic impact of $68,750,000.
The new facilities are a key part UB’s plans expand its Downtown Campus and move the five health sciences schools of its Academic Health Center to downtown Buffalo.
Construction, which began September 1, 2009, is expected to take approximately two years to complete, with doors opening in late 2011.
Turner Construction is serving as the construction manager for the project.