SYRACUSE N.Y.
The State University of New York’s Upstate Medical University wants to embark on a $510 million expansion to create additional classrooms and student housing in downtown Syracuse.
Upstate is looking to buy land and buildings downtown, said Dr. David Smith, Upstate’s president. Smith said the hospital is “very landlocked” in its present location, squeezed next to the Syracuse University campus and the Crouse and Veteran’s Administration hospitals.
The plan also calls for expansion of research facilities and a new outpatient care and teaching center. It also proposes renovating many parts of the existing hospital and constructing a new employee child-care center.
The expansion would happen over the next five to seven years.
“This is a robust agenda which I think is doable and entirely needed,” Smith said.
The expansion is needed to address the growing shortage of doctors and other health professionals in the region, Smith said. To respond, Upstate wants to increase its student enrollment now 1,370 by 30 percent over the next seven years, he said.
