Construction is underway at Strong Memorial Hospital, a project to triple the size of the emergency department. A portion of the original facility, some sections dating back to 1926, is scheduled to be torn down this month to make way for the new construction.
The University of Rochester Medical Center’s Strong Memorial Hospital received $50 million from the statewide health care facility transformation program for the expansion project, the hospital’s most comprehensive modernization in nearly 50 years.
Work will add more than 200 examination/treatment and patient observation stations in phases to the Strong emergency department, increasing the area from 46,000 to 175,000 square feet.
Plans also include a new nine-story inpatient bed tower scheduled for completion in 2027, which will add additional ED space and floors for future operating rooms and treatment services for cardiovascular patients, along with more than 100 private inpatient rooms.
Both components of the project will help to address chronic bed shortages and ED overcrowding issues that the community has faced for years, which were further highlighted during the COVID pandemic.
“We are so appreciative of this wonderful news that the University of Rochester Medical Center and Strong Memorial Hospital are getting $50 million in a state grant designated to support expansion of emergency departments in large regional hospitals,” said Kathy Parrinello, chief operating officer of Strong Memorial.
The tower will be built west of the current hospital entrance at 601 Elmwood Ave., on a site that has housed hospital facility departments and loading docks. There will be minimal construction impacts on current patient services, entrances and parking.
