Strong Memorial Hospital undergoes major expansion

Rochester, N.Y. — A major expansion is coming to Strong Hospital.

The expansion will add more than 650,000 square feet of new hospital space.

Upon completion of the $640 million expansion project, patients at Strong Memorial Hospital will be treated in a 175,000 square foot emergency room.

The renovations will add more than 100 private inpatient rooms and increase access to clinical space.

Strong Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department is the region's only level 1 trauma center.

In 2021, the ED took care of more than 110,000 patient visits in a space designed to serve less than half of that annual patient volume.

"Our existing ED was actually designed for about 55,000 to 60,000 visits per year," said URMC Director of Special Projects, Van Yannas. "We've doubled that since the ED opened. So with our new ED, we'll be able to create the space for our providers - who are so talented - to meet the needs of our community."

At the same time the ED is being expanded, a new tower west of the current hospital entrance is being built.

Those new floors will be used predominantly for intensive care units and inpatient rooms for cardiovascular care.

URMC says the consolidation of these cardiovascular services will improve efficiency for providers, patients, and families.

"The end goal is actually a nine-story building," said Yannas. "So we will have an ED on the lower portion and a five-story inpatient building on top."

The chair of URMC Emergency Medicine expects the additional space to help address chronic bed shortages and ED overcrowding issues.

"For doctors and nurses, it allows them to take care of patient in adequate space- not having to see people in chairs, hallways, or the waiting room. But to see them in an actual room will be very beneficial for everybody," " said Dr. Michael Kamali, Chair of URMC Emergency Medicine.

URMC expects to maintain access for patients throughout the entire construction process which is expected to wrap up by 2027.

URMC also says when the new expansion is finished, all emergency department operations will temporarily shift into it, so the current ED can be renovated.

When that's done, the ED team will use the entire space- tripling the current footprint.