BlueCross BlueShield of WNY Announces $1M Grant to ECMC for Expanded Trauma Center/Emergency Department
Support to focus on Behavioral Health and Detoxification Services
BUFFALO, NEW YORK – Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) Corporation today announced a generous $1M grant for the hospital’s future Trauma Center/Emergency Department from the region’s leading health plan, BlueCross Blue Shield of Western New York.
David W. Anderson, President and CEO, BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York stated, “This contribution is made on behalf of our members and is specifically focused on the need to expand behavioral health and detoxification care pathways in a more holistic way, starting at the point of admission, which is most often via ECMC’s Emergency Department. We were particularly impressed with ECMC’s commitment to expand and enhance care pathways as part of their planned Trauma Center/Emergency Department expansion.” Anderson continued, “The opioid epidemic, as well as an increased awareness of the need for timely and responsive care for depression and other mental health diagnoses, aligns well with ECMC’s plans, and the focus and mission of BlueCross BlueShield.”
ECMC Corporation President and CEO Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., PhD, said, “ECMC is deeply appreciative and thankful to BlueCross Blue Shield of Western New York for their commitment to ECMC’s critically important behavioral health and detoxification services, which often are connected directly to the hospital’s planned expansion of our Trauma Center/Emergency Department. The design of the new ED will create dedicated space for these patients, separate and apart from the medical treatment area.”
In addition to being one of the largest chemical-dependency treatment centers in Western New York, ECMC is the only Buffalo-area hospital that offers a psychiatrist in the emergency room and chemical-dependency evaluations, both 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
All treatment programs at ECMC are certified by the New York State Office of Mental Health, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). Through ECMC’s comprehensive services and compassionate care, the hospital is able to deliver on its mission of providing a safe, supportive patient and family-centered environment that allows for the rapid stabilization of psychiatric symptoms or drug and alcohol-related circumstances, promoting an integrated transition back into the community.
Erie County Medical Center Corporation (ECMCC) plans to relocate its existing Trauma Center/Emergency Department into a newly-constructed ground floor facility on its Grider Street health campus. As the region’s busiest and only Level 1 Adult Trauma Center and Emergency Department serving the 1.5 million residents of the eight counties of Western New York, it is imperative to expand to meet current and future demands for appropriate trauma and emergency care. The Trauma Center/Emergency Department serves patients for trauma, emergency psychiatric conditions via ECMC’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (“CPEP”) and traditional medical conditions and is best suited of any of the region’s Emergency Departments to handle mass casualty, disaster-related circumstances.
ECMC’s new Trauma Center/Emergency Department will address an important community need by expanding the health care delivery system’s capacity to serve patients that require emergency medical attention, serve as a referral source for other area hospitals to transfer patients that require specialized emergency care, advance ECMC’s engagement and investment in the City of Buffalo’s Delevan-Grider Corridor, and build on ECMC’s growing and dynamic relationship with the State University of New York at Buffalo (School of Medicine) and Kaleida Health System.
ABOUT BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD OF WNY: BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York is a division of HealthNow New York Inc., an independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association. Since 1936, BlueShield has helped millions of people lead healthier lives. BlueShield offers a full range of insured, self-insured, and government programs and services covering businesses, families, and individuals, as well as dental and vision plans and stop-loss coverage. As a community-based, not-for-profit health plan, BlueCross BlueShield contributes significantly to organizations that strengthen and enrich the health of our community.
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ABOUT ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER (ECMC) CORPORATION: The ECMC Corporation was established as a New York State Public Benefit Corporation and since 2004 has included an advanced academic medical center with 583 inpatient beds, on- and off-campus health centers, more than 30 outpatient specialty care services and Terrace View, a 390-bed long-term care facility. ECMC is Western New York’s only Level 1 Adult Trauma Center, as well as a regional center for burn care, behavioral health services, transplantation, medical oncology and head & neck cancer care, rehabilitation and a major teaching facility for the University at Buffalo. Most ECMC physicians, dentists and pharmacists are dedicated faculty members of the university and/or members of a private practice plan. More Western New York residents are choosing ECMC for exceptional patient care and patient experiences – the difference between healthcare and true care™.