Healthcare Services and Medical Education
With centrally located healthcare facilities at University and Crouse Hospitals, the VA Medical Center, Hutchings Psychiatric Center, and Rosewood Heights Health Center, University Hill offers the Central New York region profound resources and expertise in healthcare, education, and medical research.
University Hospital
University Hospital
University Hospital, SUNY Upstate Medical University’s primary medical facility, is Central New York’s tertiary care hospital and the region’s only Level-1 trauma center, consisting of more than 80 specialty clinics, 350 beds, and over 20 specialized programs and services. The university and hospital are among only 125 academic medical centers in the United States. The university hosts a student body of 1,300 across four colleges: the College of Health Professions, the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, and the College of Graduate Studies.
University Hospital is not only a vital part of the SUNY Upstate’s academic program, but is also a primary source of expert healthcare for the entire Central New York region. The trauma center within the hospital serves the surrounding 14 counties, spanning from Canada down to the Pennsylvania border. Services provided to Central New York solely by University Hospital and SUNY Upstate include the Clark Burn Center, the transplant program, and the pediatric cardiac program.
The hospital’s Central New York Gamma Knife Center is one of only 165 centers in the world that hosts the Leksell Gamma Knife Model C, one of the most advanced and sophisticated neurosurgical devices. The Joslin Diabetes Center, the only one of its kind in New York, recently moved to 3229 East Genesee Street to accommodate its many patients. The center focuses on a multi-disciplinary approach to effective diabetes management, and is part of an internationally recognized program in diabetes treatment, research, and education.
University Hospital and SUNY Upstate are vital to the region’s economy. With over 7,000 employees, it is the county’s largest employer. The hospital is currently undergoing a $120 million, six-story vertical expansion in its East Wing that will house floors dedicated to oncology, cardiology, and neurology services and the new Golisano Children’s Hospital. This state of the art pediatric facility will occupy two floors of the new structure, increasing the children’s hospital from 18,000 to 87,000 square feet, and will provide centralized pediatric services with enhanced patient and family friendly amenities. The new East Tower opened in summer 2009 to adult patients, with the Children’s Hospital expected to open in the fall.
Crouse Hospital
Crouse Hospital is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization serving Central New York. The hospital, in operation since 1887, is licensed for 506 acute-care adult beds and 57 bassinets, and serves more than 2
4,000 inpatients, 65,000 emergency services patients, and more than 150,000 outpatients a year from a 16-county area in Central and Northern New York.
The hospital’s mission is to provide the best in patient care and to promote community health. In 2006, Crouse was named ‘Business of the Year’ by the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. In 2007, the hospital was named a Top 100 Performance Improvement Leader by Thompson Healthcare for its financial, operational and quality progress. In 2008, Crouse became the first (and remains the only) U.S. hospital to receive Workforce Management magazine’s Optimas Award for General Excellence, which in the past has been given to companies such as Intel, Google and Disney.
Crouse is Central New York’s largest provider of maternity care services, delivering more than 4,200 babies annually, and is the designated regional referral center for high-risk neonatal intensive care services. Other areas of specialty include comprehensive diagnostic and interventional cardiac care (Crouse is a nationally accredited Chest Pain Center, is the first accredited Heart Failure Center in NYS, and is home to CNY’s only pediatric cardiac catheterization program); internal medicine; surgical services (including the latest advancements in robotic surgery); orthopedics; stroke care (Crouse is a NYS-designated stroke center and the first ‘Gold Plus’ stroke hospital in Syracuse, as recognized by the American Heart/Stroke Association); oncology; and the region’s only hospital-based chemical dependency treatment services for adolescents, adults and seniors. The hospital also operates the Crouse Hospital College of Nursing, providing critical nursing education to more than 280 students annually.
Syracuse Veterans Administration Medical Center
Syracuse VA Medical CenterSince 1953, the Syracuse Veterans Administration Medical Center has had a proud tradition of providing health care services to the veterans of Central New York and beyond. The Syracuse VA is located in the center of an 18-county coverage area extending from the Canadian border to the Pennsylvania state line. The Center provides acute medical and surgical services, acute mental health, rehabilitative medicine, and intensive care to more than 41,000 veteran men and women in the region. A 48-bed nursing home unit also provides short-term transitional care.
It has undergone numerous facility upgrades, investing more than $70 million in the past ten years, creating a modern, comfortable, and efficient environment to meet the needs of veterans well into the future. With its designation as a Spinal Cord Injury Center, a major expansion is underway that will add more than 100,000 square feet to accommodate the new use. The $78 million project will include the addition of 30 inpatient beds dedicated to patients with spinal cord injuries, six new operating rooms, and enlarged space for outpatient services. Two floors will also be added to the existing six-story parking garage, along with an elevated walkway from the garage to the spinal cord injury center.
Services
The Medical Center offers many specialty services for outpatients, including emergency medicine, cardiology, hematology/oncology, women health, geriatric medicine, and behavioral health. Ambulatory Care Services are provided through numerous outpatient clinics within the Medical Center as well as community-based clinics in Auburn, Binghamton, Carthage, Cortland, Ithaca, Massena, Oswego and Rome, New York. A comprehensive Women’s Health Center became operational in October 1995.
Affiliations
The Syracuse VA is also a member of the Upstate New York VA Network, which is an integrated approach to managing referrals, maximizing resources, and controlling cost between six upstate New York medical centers.
The Medical Center is affiliated with the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. In addition, programs in the allied health professions are in place with 12 institutions in the Central New York area. Affiliation agreements are in place with eight schools of nursing. LeMoyne College offers a physician assistant externship at the Medical Center. Audiology, speech pathology, and social work students from Syracuse University receive their fieldwork experience at the Medical Center.
Education & Research
An active research program encourages all levels and types of research, especially those activities that have the most immediate impact on patient care. More than 50 investigators are currently working on over 70 active projects. These are either under the direct auspices of the VA Research and Development Service or the Central New York Research Corporation. The academic and research environment has proven to be a valuable recruiting tool to attract highly competent physicians and staff. The Medical Center also offers a program for high school students called the “New Vision Program,” which allows students to learn about healthcare delivery and potential careers in the field of medicine.
Community Involvement
The Medical Center plays an active role in the Central New York community by promoting health care services and benefits to the veteran population. This is done through health fairs, media events, and in-house activities. In recent years, this has been extended to non-veterans as well. A community health fair has been established to reach the inner city population that has been generally underserved. Activities for women’s health awareness have also been promoted. Unique to the VA is a well-child program established at the Griffiss AFB satellite clinic. All of these activities, plus extensive participation in regional health planning, place the Syracuse VA in a prominent position in Central New York.
Richard H. Hutchings Psychiatric Center
The Richard H. Hutchings Psychiatric Center is a comprehensive, community based mental health facility operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health. The Center was developed from the former Syracuse Psychiatric Hospital, a short-term facility which opened in 1930. Hutchings opened at its University Hill location in 1972 and has become an instrumental part of community mental healthcare, providing nearly half of the public mental health services in Onondaga County.
Services
Hutchings offers a variety of services including extensive inpatient, outpatient, adolescent, child, geriatric, intensive rehabilitation, and other specialized treatment. The facility programs serve patients all over the Central New York region, including Onondaga, Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, and Oneida counties.
Hutchings is a 136-bed facility, treating more than 1,300 outpatients through a system of clinical, residential, social rehabilitation, and vocational rehabilitation services. Hutchings offers a rehabilitation workshop called Cedar Industries which provides an opportunity for individuals within the program to become vocational trainees, doing contract work and manufacturing for local businesses.
Education & Training
As one of the two major psychiatric teaching hospitals associated with the Department of Psychiatry of Upstate Medical University, Hutchings is vital to the health training in the area. The Center also sponsors a nationally-recognized APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship in Clinical Psychology. Annual training rotations and internships are in place with the Upstate Medical University’s College of Nursing, Crouse Hospital College of Nursing, St. Joseph Hospital Nursing College, and the Syracuse University’s Department of Social Work.
Rosewood Heights Health Center
Rosewood Heights Health Center is a nonprofit, skilled nursing facility that was established in 1971. Located on South Crouse Avenue, the center has 242 beds. The medical staff at the center includes a medical director and four internal medicine specialists. Staff dentists and visiting podiatrists provide additional health care services. Rosewood’s 300 employees include 25 registered nurses, 26 certified licensed practical nurses, and 95 health assistants.
Services
Rosewood offers a variety of specialized services including inter-generational programming, short-term rehabilitation, Hospice, long-term care for persons with HIV, care for younger chronically ill residents, and care for individuals with Alzheimer disease and related disorders. The Alzheimer unit at Rosewood has been recognized with its “Best Practice Award” by the New York State Department of Health.
Rosewood is committed to treating both patient and family as a unit, providing tailored programs to meet that goal. Family members are encouraged to participate in planning and caring for the patient, with counseling of patients and families provided by the Department of Social Work. At Rosewood, emphasis is placed on keeping the individual actively involved in the medical treatment program and as a contributing member of the family and community.
The center offers many programs to provide comprehensive and optimal care to patients, including a variety of recreational activities such as social hours, a garden club, trips throughout the community, and shopping. Occupational therapy programs include retraining in daily living activities, restoring strength and coordination, providing adaptive equipment and splints, and homemaking retraining. Occupational therapy is used to treat disabilities resulting from cerebral vascular accident, traumatic brain injury, degenerative nerve disorders, arthritis, and blindness.
The center’s Physical Therapy Department provides safe and effective physical therapy services to restore patient’s independent living capabilities. Counseling of patients and families is provided by the Department of Social Work. Audiology and speech pathology services are coordinated into the treatment plan. The health care services at Rosewood Heights Health Center involve complex blends of treatment to meet the biological, psychological, spiritual, and social needs of the individual and family.
