HUD Promotes Advanced Health Care in Western NY

Roger Miller, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary (far left), stands next to Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and other government, private and elected officials in cutting the ribbon for the Gates Vascular Institute.

HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary Roger Miller was joined by Congressman Brian Higgins, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, James Kaskie, President and CEO of Kaleida, and other state and government officials in the grand opening of the new Gates Vascular Institute, part of the Kaleida Health Care Network. The new Institute's construction was financed by $100.3 million mortgage made possible through the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Section 241 Supplemental Mortgage Insurance program.

"FHA is helping to build state-of-the-art health care facilities all across the country," said Acting FHA Commissioner Carol Galante. "By lowering the cost of credit, FHA is helping Kaleida Health and other health care systems to use more of their resources to provide quality medical care and create jobs."

The FHA-insured mortgage loan financed the construction of the new 478,000 sq. ft., 10-story, Gates Vascular Institute facility adjacent to Kaleida Health's Buffalo General Medical Center. The building connects to the hospital lobby and includes a new emergency room, 62 extended recovery bays, seven operating rooms, 16 cardiac care unit beds, 15 cardiac catheterization/angioplasty labs and support space. The new facility also houses research and development facilities, including four floors owned by the State University of New York-Buffalo (UB) for its Clinical and Translational Research Center and a Biosciences Incubator.

The project was initiated to comply with the Berger Commission mandate to develop a new infrastructure that supports comprehensive heart and vascular services in a central location. The total cost is approximately $300 million. Kaleida Health, SUNY Buffalo and grants from New York State provided about $200 million for the project.

HUD estimates this construction project created more than a thousand full-time jobs and provided an estimated economic stimulus of almost $270 million to the community. Now that it is completed, it is estimated the project will provide an annual economic benefit of approximately $217 million and support more than 700 jobs throughout the community. HUD's estimates are based on results from an economic model used by public and private institutions to examine a variety of economic development issues.

Kaleida Health is a nonprofit, fully integrated, multi-hospital healthcare delivery system located in Buffalo and surrounding suburbs. It operates four hospitals and several other wholly owned subsidiaries and two charitable foundations.

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