ECMC Opens State-of-the-art Keybank Trauma and Emergency Department
$55 million facility replaces existing department opened in 1978
BUFFALO, NEW YORK—Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) Corporation today celebrated the opening of the institution’s new $55 million KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department, which will double the size of the existing 40-year old facility and feature state-of-the-art technology and equipment for the region’s only Level I Adult Trauma Center. Originally opened in 1978 to accommodate 35,000-40,000 patients annually, ECMC’s Trauma and Emergency Department now sees nearly 70,000 patients a year, with patient volumes expected to reach over 75,000 annually by 2024.
The project has raised nearly $15 million from private philanthropy and received a $10 million award from New York State earlier this year. With several other commitments in progress, the capital campaign is expected to conclude later this year.
ECMC Corporation Board Chair Jonathan A. Dandes, said, “Thanks to the vision and dedication of our remarkable Emergency Department clinicians, the strong leadership of ECMC’s executive leadership and the incredibly generous support of private philanthropic organizations and individuals, we have achieved the completion – on time and on budget – of the most state-of-the-art Trauma and Emergency Department in our region, our state and beyond. On behalf of my fellow board members, we are grateful for the strong collaborative and mutually supportive process between our clinical leaders and ECMC’s administration that highlighted this very complex and vitally important project. The result is a gleaming new facility that will support lifesaving care for generations to come. Also, as chair of the project’s capital campaign, I want to express our deep appreciation to all of our generous donors, particularly KeyBank for their $2.5 million donation to our campaign.”
ECMC Corporation President and CEO Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., PhD, said, “This new KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department is all about our patients. Our caregivers were directly involved in every detail of the new facility, from its physical location to the care unit color schemes to where power outlets were placed. Our Emergency Department clinicians have always provided national best-in-class care and now they have a national best-in-class facility to match their excellence. I want to thank our Board of Directors for their vision, the community for donating nearly $15 million to the project, and our local and state elected officials who supported the financing of this project and provided financial support. ECMC is truly the community’s hospital and that has never been more evident than today.”
Dr. Michael A. Manka Jr., ECMC Chief of Emergency Medicine stated, “The new KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department features design elements that allow for greater efficiencies in patient flow and will enable the Department’s medical team to achieve high quality outcomes. The customized layout of the space will better align with physicians’ and staff’s work flow while creating a more patient-oriented space containing larger rooms to accommodate patients’ families and the medical team. This was a very exciting and rewarding project for the entire Emergency Department and, working collaboratively with ECMC’s Executive Leadership and Board in its design and overall development process, we are confident our new facility will continue to support our strong tradition of lifesaving care for decades to come.”
Gary Quenneville, KeyBank Regional Sales Executive and Buffalo Market President said, “The KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department will set a new standard for patient care at Erie County Medical Center and further add to the growth happening in the Delavan-Grider neighborhood. We are excited to see this project completed at such a critical time and applaud the team at ECMC for all they are doing to help our region recover from the COVID-19 crisis.”
Elizabeth Gurney, Director of Corporate Philanthropy for KeyBank said, “Helping the communities we serve thrive is central to KeyBank’s purpose. This state of the art facility will be a beacon of hope for this neighborhood and will strengthen the already superior care that ECMC provides to the Western New York community.”
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said, “ECMC is our region’s only Level 1 adult trauma center and was in desperate need of a modern, accessible Trauma and Emergency Department to handle the critical care needs of our community. Erie County is proud to have partnered in this effort and to have been a part of building a new emergency facility that will be fully prepared when residents are most in need of critical help. We now have an accessible, modern, fully functional and efficient emergency room that works better for patients, families, and critical care staff.”
NYS Senator Tim Kennedy said, “For decades, ECMC has served as a top trauma hospital in Western New York, and the new KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department will only further that reputation and mission by enhancing patient care and improving accessibility to life-saving services. By expanding the department’s capacity and updating standards of care, ECMC is once again demonstrating a clear commitment to providing our region’s residents with thoughtful, efficient, and quality care, at a time when it’s needed more than ever.”
NYS Assembly Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes said, “It is a joy to see ECMC’s KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department reach its completion. As WNY region’s #1 trauma center, ECMC’s new ER will allow more patients to receive critical treatment faster and more efficiently. I’d like to congratulate the entire construction and development team, as well as the entire hospital staff for their flexibility over the last two years, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you to all of our healthcare professionals!”
Mayor Byron W. Brown said, “The successful completion of ECMC’s new KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department is a testament to the strong leadership of the institution’s executive management team, its Board of Directors and the highly skilled doctors, nurses and support staff who have collaborated over many years to achieve this tremendous outcome. The City of Buffalo is fortunate to have such an outstanding team of dedicated healthcare professionals caring for our community, sometimes in very challenging circumstances, and they now will deliver that expert care from the finest facility of its kind in the country. Congratulations!”
As the region’s busiest and only Level 1 Adult Trauma and Emergency Department serving the 1.5 million residents of the eight counties of Western New York, the facility serves patients for trauma, emergency psychiatric conditions via ECMC’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (“CPEP”) and traditional medical conditions and it is best suited of any of the region’s Emergency Departments to handle mass casualty, disaster-related circumstances.
The existing Trauma and Emergency Department, one story above ground, was accessed only by a set of ramps from outside the building, making access difficult for some patients and challenging for the efficient flow of emergency vehicles. The new facility is located on ground level, providing much better accessibility for patients, first responders and staff.
The new facility, designed by CannonDesign and built by The Pike Company, nearly doubles facility square footage to 54,000sf and will increase treatment space from 36 to 57 stations including 4 dedicated trauma rooms, 2 behavioral health safe rooms, 2 isolation rooms, and 4 medical resuscitation rooms. It features intradepartmental imaging consisting of 2 CT rooms and 2 x-ray rooms, direct access from the hospital’s rooftop helipad, and a care initiation zone to support an enhanced triage model of care.
ECMC’s new KeyBank Trauma and 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 (of ECMC’s 2,580 trauma cases in 2019, 762 were transfers from other area hospitals), advance ECMC’s engagement and investment in the City of Buffalo’s Delevan-Grider Corridor, and build on ECMC’s strong partnership with the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the Kaleida Health System.
To view the KeyBank Trauma and Emergency Department list of donors, please visit: https://supportecmctrauma.org/donate/
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 573 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 ™.