UR MEDICINE TO COMPLETE MASSIVE ORTHOPEDIC CAMPUS

BY DEBORAH JEANNE SERGEANT

UR Medicine has opened what it describes as “the largest, most comprehensive ambulatory orthopedics campus in the Northeastern U.S.” on the grounds of Marketplace Mall in Rochester.

The center initially includes eight operating rooms, two procedure rooms, pre- and post-operative patient facilities, diagnostic imaging, clinic exam rooms and physical, occupational and hand therapy.

It will house CHAMPP, the Center for Human Musculoskeletal Performance and Prevention, offering sports medicine clinical teams, athletic performance training, physical therapy and rehabilitation, nutrition and behavioral health, plus a motion and gait analysis lab to address movement issues. The center will have room to add two more floors as the need arises.

URMC hired about 180 new employees between the opening of the orthopedics campus and for imaging services in addition to the 150 already working in the administrative offices currently.

Previously, UR Medicine Orthopaedics has been providing one-quarter million patient visits and 15,000 surgeries annually.

As the baby boomers continue to age, it’s expected that number will continue to grow. The department has experienced 25% growth in orthopedic surgery cases and 60% increase in ambulatory visits. It is also estimated that in the next five years, 50% of joint replacements will be outpatient surgeries as part of the overall healthcare trend of moving past hospital walls.

The new location provides clinical space and resources to offer greater access to surgery and provider appointments for patients from across the region, as it will be nearly three times the size of UR Medicine’s largest orthopedic outpatient facility at Clinton Crossings. At 120,000 square feet, Clinton Crossings sees 17,000 patients monthly.

“Repurposing the old Sears building and taking advantage of existing infrastructure rather than excavating and building from scratch saved at least a year off

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URMC hired LeChase Construction in Syracuse for the project. The new facility aligns with a trend of medical organizations repurposing mall properties providing a center that is accessible to patients and revitalizing vacant retail spaces. UR Medicine Orthpaedics occupies 19.1 acres at Marketplace.

URMC CEO Mark Taubman said that over the past two years, URMC had conducted market research with consumers in the region, medical providers and staff members about their preferences for a new site.

“In evaluating different sites around Rochester, we weighed critical factors such as proximity to the Thruway and Interstate 390 for patients who seek our orthopedics care from across Upstate New York; availability of public transportation for patients closer to Rochester and assets such as existing utilities and ample space for parking and expansion,” Taubman said. “This site meets all of those objectives quite well.”

The project fills the shell of the former Sears store and includes in its new construction a multi-story tower above the surgery center. The center represents the largest off-site building project that URMC has ever undertaken, covering 330,000 square feet.

“This new orthopedics center will allow us to serve an even larger population within the region we call our home,” said Sarah C. Mangelsdorf, president and G. Robert Witmer Jr. Professor at the University of Rochester. “It epitomizes our commitment to the Rochester community and the Western New York region, providing medical services of the highest order in a location that is easily accessible from every direction: north, south, east and west.”

URMC first announced the ambitious building plan in November 2019, mere months before the pandemic began. Despite numerous disruptions in supplies, equipment and labor plaguing the construction industry during the height of the pandemic, the project is “on track to be completed on time,” Ficarra said.

The surgery center opened in late 2022 and the patient tower portion of the project should open in 2023, completing the project.

Everyone deserves to be cared for and to live well. So at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, we’re more focused than ever on making care more accessible in the communities we serve. Through affordable plan options, community investments, partnerships and education, we’re working to address inequities that made care feel out of reach for too many people, for far too long. That way, everybody benefits.