Poll is closed, but some casted votes: Do You Support a New Hospital in Downtown Utica?

Question: Do you support a new hospital in downtown Utica? (Poll Closed)
Results: No = (59.15%), Yes = (29.58%), I don't know = (9.86%), and Other = (1.41%).

If this poll was an election, the mandate reads clearly: #NoHospitalDowntown

October 23, 2015 Utica, NY- This week an area politician mailed #NoHospitalDowntown a note and an article suggesting some reading. Excellent! We love researching healthcare and hospitals- it's exactly why this website exists, as we’re studying the current plan for a new Utica hospital. #NoHospitalDowntown opposes placing a hospital downtown and we’re reading and advocating for a knowledgeable and well-informed process that brings this to fruition.

The article sent was called “Emerging trends in healthcare development: neighborhood care, mixed-use model on the rise”. The kind note and article we’ll assume was as to impress upon us that downtown hospitals are a growing “mixed-use” trend. However, if one dissects the article and does a little homework, it in no way helps build a case for a downtown Utica hospital. Dangerously, if one simply reads the article’s title and moves on, they would have another misguided reason to believe a downtown Utica hospital has merit. With a little thinking and examination of the story, one quickly sees the article provides extremely weak evidence and is more likely just a rudimentary blog posting seeking traction for a niche real estate/building design website.

First, the article is presented by two real estate professionals Patrick Duke and Eric Fisher. In their positions, they’re likely simply engaged to find, sell, and fill real estate parcels to their target healthcare organization customers. Also the publisher Reed Business Information of the “magazine” Building Design & Construction is not a publisher of scientific healthcare-based journals. RBI in this situation is a trade magazine producer, and their publishing in this case is geared towards professionals selling healthcare-related real estate and contractors focused on buildings used by healthcare-related facilities.

So what does the article say? The first point is that hospitals are re-thinking their locations and site selection processes. The trend is for medical services to be positioned on mass transit routes. However, for Utica this is a moot point and does not in any way support a new downtown hospital- as Utica’s three current hospitals are already positioned on our city’s bus routes!

Next the article talks about concentrated clusters of people living in close proximity to “fixed-guideway” transit stops, and a trend towards siting medical outlets and retail in the immediate neighborhoods. This concept does not apply to Utica and the Mohawk Valley region unless you go back to when our trolleys were operating. Utica is not likely to ever build a subway (fix-guideway) system. If Utica did introduce a gondola, would they be connected to our hospital(s), old or new? We don’t think so, but then again the community has been told almost nothing about a supposed plan, and in fact we don’t believe there is a plan.

Regardless, the article goes on to talk about very large population centers and the disbursement of healthcare systems into multiple neighborhoods with transit stops. In these large neighborhoods, you'll be informed that you may increasingly see medical facilities positioned among apartment complexes, further surrounded by a drug store, a wellness clinics, restaurants and shops. The article suggests people want to live, work, and play within walking distance of everything they need.

If #NoHospitalDowntown trys to apply this to the proposed downtown Utica hospital, much would have to change first. For instance the region would need to pull-in about 10-20 medical offices from New Hartford and Whitesboro, build the hospital, and then draw an additional 10-20 retail shops away from Sangertown and Consumer Square, and then relocate/attract thousands of people into downtown who want to live around this new “hospital/medical district”. Is downtown Utica forecasted to grow by thousands of residents? Additionally, are our bus routes planning to start drawing bus loads of people into a newly themed medical downtown? That’s what would have to happen to match the article’s view, but how likely does this describe Utica's future?

The single example in the article is that of Bryn Mawr, PA, a very affluent suburb of Philadelphia where the region’s corporate elite live (median household income $100,634). This population cluster is on the Philadelphia metro line, an area that boasts 8 college and private schools. Described are upscale townhomes for aging baby boomers that include “private elevators”, where a healthcare system has located to capture these healthcare dollars and market share from competing hospitals as the Affordable Care Act kicks in. Authors go onto suggest that by moving into vacant spaces in highly populated urban areas, hospitals can lower cost as well as speed-time-to-market by avoiding new construction costs! One has to wonder how these topics relate to building a $600M+ dollar hospital in Utica (median household income $31,048) only after bulldozing 34 acres of land.

Lastly the article suggests that hospitals use “advanced predictive analytic techniques” which are often used by the retailing and banking industries to determine ideal location. Beyond that, hospitals should employ the rigorous use of healthcare and patient datasets and real-time local market intelligence to optimize their medical system’s business growth. Again, #NoHospitalDowntown must wonder, how advanced was the information, how broad, and how integrated of a process was used to locate the new hospital? Can the voting public see these datasets so we can be confident the top location was soundly determined?

The article’s authors move towards a conclusion, but first they suggest that hospitals partner with healthcare real-estate professionals (like themselves!) to eliminate the risks of selecting a location.

Finally in article’s conclusion, one reads “… a crucial element of this urban-centic outpatient strategy.” So in the end, readers come to understand, that the article is less focused on the type of hospital that Utica’s leaders are considering placing downtown afterall.

We at #NoHospitalDowntown are left to wonder, “Why was this article sent to us? Perhaps someone is looking for #NoHospitalDowntown to do their homework… or perhaps that of the Mohawk Valley Health Systems? If so, we’re happy to have helped out and we look forward to a much more rigorous test in the future. However, may we suggest capturing Google search results for “hospitals”, “mixed-use” and “downtown” is a very unreliable way to site a nearly $1B hospital as one seeks to create a regional “Mohawk Valley Healthcare Transformation”.

October 21, 2015 Utica, NY- A group of concerned local residents formed and own two URLs NoHospitalDowntown.com and UticaHospitals.com and in addition formed a Facebook page #NoHospitalDowntown We got our start when we heard that pressure was mounting for a vote on a downtown location/plan. We now know that there was never "a plan" for such a hospital, it was just "an idea" that is attached to $300M in Albany funding. Taxpayers cannot get detailed information on what the planned parcel or hospital complex looks like- because none exists! So how does the MVHS Hospital Board unanimously voted in favor of it?

We plan to keep advocating for a walkable downtown that develops like Bagg's Square and other districts are. Placing a massive hospital into a downtown that's officially deemed a “highly distressed area” (PDF link) - via a government-hatched and backed "plan" - lacks proper insight. Hundreds, thousands, of downtown residents must exist prior to a mixed-use urban hospital having a chance of success. Very few people are going to move downtown to live around a hospital, especially when the unplanned hospital's footprint wipes out 34 acres of an already very compact downtown.

October 20, 2015 Utica, NY- Plans for a new hospital in downtown Utica have created headlines and heated debate across all media platforms, please see our posts below. One result is this website, where we have recently changed our URL (web address). We are simply working to dispel our confusion, as well as impart information onto the taxpaying public. How has downtown Utica, which has been on a steady comeback in recent years, become targeted for bulldozers? Bulldozers and wrecking balls, which would reconfigure multiple downtown blocks into a large hospital complex? And when taxpayers in Utica ask questions about the site selection process, they’re quickly called naysayers and denied information that went into the process. We are told the process is only just starting, but how can that be truth if 50% of funding is in place and the site selection process is complete? Wouldn’t a community need to have a comprehensive set of studies completed to know what was needed, what it would cost and what it would look like? How can a final site be announced (and incorrectly portrayed in the media), if studies were done and four outside vendors have been engaged in the planning process?

We would like to offer a different path for developing our region’s new hospital. And even suggest that a “reset” considered. But not because we are smart, but because we’re asking fair questions and getting poor or in other cases no answers. Furthermore, we’ve found another New York community that suggests our local effort is flawed.

Take a look at Orange Regional Medical Center located about one hour north of New York City. In 2011 they opened as New York’s first new hospital in twenty years. Their plan did not arrive as a media headline and 50% funded. No, they started in 2006 with a steering committee, purchase of 61 acres, and… “Over 60 informational-gathering "user groups" were assembled with Board, physician and employee representatives to obtain design input for the planned hospital. Public input was obtained through community presentations and media solicitations.” Five years later the 600,000 square foot hospital opened with 383 beds.

October 17, 2015 Utica, NY- After a meeting with the Mayor of Utica this past week, NoHospitalDowntown.com is now UticaHospitals.com. Why? Mayor Robert Michael Palmieri feels that Utica above all must appear positive and not negative. If a person or group is out there bashing Utica, saying "No to a new hospital", such messages hurt Utica's standing with other state officials. So, although we started our campaign to redirect the planned hospital into a better location (so we can save the Downtown Utica we love), we get it!

This is not, and has never been about grabbing headlines, nor creating a political football to be hijacked- we simply wish that a very hard look be given to the hospital issue. If we need to change a URL, so be it! We're happy to oblige the mayor's request. We only hope our willingness here will allow others to see that our intentions remain; seeking the best for our regional healthcare system, protecting taxpayers- and the scale of downtown.

We love the good things that are happening downtown Utica and feel that by not bulldozing blocks-and-blocks of buildings, these developments will spread and an even larger walkable downtown lies just ahead!

Consider This! Boise, Idaho has a growing downtown hospital, they have residents working to keep their city walkable. They have a website Keep Boise Connected and appear to have a very engaged conversation with officials. Checkout their website, and videos on Youtube; Keep Boise Connected parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. The topics and issues reflect the same things Utica must address should they ever try to develop a downtown hospital.

October 15, 2015 Utica, NY- Studying what makes a good hospital location, and what it means when area hospitals close. These complex issues are only the tip of the iceberg, but study we must! One article, titled Study Finds Patients Not Actually Hurt When Local Hospitals Close is relevant to the current talks on hospital consolidation in Utica.

Did They Consider These Questions? #NoHospitalDowntown is wondering... did the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) board do a complete and exhaustive study of the regional healthcare needs for area residents? What information about the region did they use? What answers did they arrive at? For example, here are a list of the Top 10 Strategic Questions for Hospitals and Health Systems. Did our hospital leaders considered such questions (and or others) in determining that we required a new hospital? It would be so refreshing to see such reports, along with comments from medical experts- rather than government leaders pushing a hospital (and a specific location) totally void of public input.

October 12, 2015 Utica, NY- In observances of Columbus Day, today's meeting at the Fort Schuyler Club is canceled as the club is closed. Please feel free to share your comments on our group's #NoHospitalDowntown page. This past weekend we started wondering, perhaps the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) decision to locate a hospital downtown Utica is not about consolidation? Could their project actually be an expansion plan being promoted as a consolidation? Something to ponder, as we collect all the facts on this project.

Don't bulldoze #Utica make it more walkable! http://t.co/GpqSu8QOlO #MohawkValley #CNY #HealthCare #MVHealthSystem pic.twitter.com/6Y5TM7i7Wi

— Brett Truett (@BrettTruett) October 8, 2015

October 8, 2015 Utica, NY- Downtown Utica has new developments that continue the progress and excitement. Multiple blocks of hospital-based development is not required, would not allow for future hospital growth, and will wipe out chances to expand Utica into a walkable city that people desire to live in and visit.

Bagg's Square, Hotel Utica, maybe?, the Landmarc building, and numerous others that include new market rate apartments. What about a new plan called "Columbia Square"? Our group #NoHospitalDowntown says it is much better to redevelop the ugly buildings and empty lots on Columbia and Lafayette Streets into a walkable district that ties downtown to the brewery district. A new Columbia Square district would link the AUD to downtown far better than a hospital tower that creates a massive Super Block barrier.

Place the hospital where it is now, on the St Lukes campus, convert multiple surface parking into a garage and expand alongside Utica College

The St. Luke's Campus Today, lots of surface parking:



Future St. Luke's Campus?:

October 7, 2015 Utica, NY- Read blog post Downtown Hospital: Stepping Over the EDGE: "While everyone debates the merits of the Downtown Hospital, the bigger story has gone unnoticed: Mohawk Valley EDGE's role in the decision to locate the hospital downtown... EDGE's practices place us all at the mercy of those "with disproportionate influence and power in the political process." In the end, this discourages private investment in Oneida County."

October 6, 2015 Utica, NY- Mayoral candidates discuss downtown hospital

Palmieri- "Let's give these people, the board that has come up with the decision to come to the City of Utica, let's give them an opportunity to expose it, he said. "To be open and transparent as they are before we say 'No we don't want a hospital,' that's what has stagnated the city for 60 years."

LaPolla- said there are many unanswered questions "I've got to be convinced that my questions are answered, then certainly I'll address it as to how it affects the tax payers of the city."

Sullivan-Fatata- "I don't think people in loft apartments paying $2,500 a month want to hear ambulances all night," she said. "I've been to [Albany Medical Center,] I've been to [Syracuse University and Upstate Medical University], and let me tell you, I don't see any great development happening near those hospitals, nor do I pockets of cool places to live around those hospitals."

October 6, 2015 Utica, NY- New information on the hospital has been posted MVHS: New Hospital Q&A From the Mohawk Valley Health System website, we learn the following companies have been consultants to the planning thus far...

Mohawk Valley EDGE

ELAN Planning, Design & Landscape Architecture, PLLC

O’Brien & Gere

Hammes Company

In other news, the Mohawk Valley Health System reported: "In August, MVHS had a year to date operating loss of $2.5 million compared to a budgeted gain of $400,000."

Consider This! #NoHospitalDowntown feel hospital improvements should be solely focused on "Better Healthcare". However, today Utica is hearing that a new downtown hospital will remake our regional economy. WIBX on October 5, 2015 carries story where hospital CEO Scott Perra comments, "We recognize that a new hospital downtown can provide a catalyst for the revitalization of the City of Utica and the entire Mohawk Valley."

However, think about this: cat·a·lyst, a noun, means 1) a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. 2) a person or thing that precipitates an event. Further, according to earlier statements, downtown Utica has already begun moving towards better days...

TWC News on July 28, 2015 story reads, "I see a real revitalization of Utica, of this community, of the whole Mohawk Valley. It's something that people might not have seen a few years ago. But you can't help but walk around this city and get a sense of the vitality, the revitalization," said Secretary of State of New York Cesar Perales. And on April 29, 2014 Governor Cuomo has an announcement. People are quoted "... in the growth and revitalization of the Mohawk Valley, ... is exciting and will serve as a true catalyst for economic development."

#NoHospitalDowntown is researching many aspects of the hospital decision making process. We're seeking smart development for Utica, and the taxpayers both present and future. We're not being negative only to say "No"- we're simply seeking for the hospital to stick to healthcare, and not to the task of transforming an entire regional economy by bulldozing a set of city blocks.

Looking Back... Read the May 01, 2014 article from Healthcare Finance titled Hospitals Should Expect Scrutiny of Mergers & Affiliations. Story goes onto report (calling it "The Utica example"): "Hospital executives would do well to note of the specifics of the Utica case as a way to successfully orchestrate an affiliation. In December, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman reached a settlement with the two general acute care hospitals to permit affiliation under an agreement that he said would not adversely affect competition. Instead the two hospitals, which Schneiderman said were financially troubled, will be able to reduce costs by combining their operations."

Consider This! Some see a potential downtown hospital as a giant step forward for Utica and the region. Others, like our group #NoHospitalDowntown, have big concerns. Among them; a) the total cost and who will pays the short and long term bills, b) further deterioration of the city’s tax base and increase of non-profit entities downtown, c) demolition of buildings and destruction of our small city scale, d) what is the exact footprint and acreage, e) jobs to be created or lost, etc.

A local architect educates us about the term “Super Block”, which is what's being proposed with a downtown hospital. Read the Wikipedia Super Block entry, and an article from a "Urban Design & Architectural Engineering” magazine titled “Block, Superblock and Megablock, A short history.”

In an email to #NoHospitalDowntown a Utica-based architect offers, "In Rome NY, the superblock almost killed the downtown entirely, some argue it did." Another except from another review (regarding Rome NY's past Super Block effort), reads: "The Plan goes on to say that twenty years later, most of the old retail structures had been torn down, leaving an urban core with gaps and holes, detours and barriers. By 1995, the failure of the original idea was obvious to all, as was the impossibility of regaining what was lost." Read the full (PDF) document here City of Rome Comprehensive Plan

October 4, 2015 Utica, NY- Perhaps because we've asked? #NoHospitalDowntown pionts to an article on a possible downtown hospital in today's Utica Observer-Dispatch. Read this Q&A, however after doing so one will not know; where the 17 acres are, how will a hospital and two parking garages fit into 17 acres (when a report stated 25-40 acres are required), where would space come from for future expansion (we will need it with nano-based job influx, right?), or how will a large medical complex keep Utica a "walkable" downtown for downtown residences that are arriving?

October 2, 2015 Utica, NY- On newstands today, the October issue of the Utica Poenix, Utica's Independent Newspaper. Read the #NoHospitalDowntown = #YesTeachingHospital" editorial by Cassandra Harris-Lockwood... "With all the talk of upscale loft dwellers to come to downtown, don't you think Trader Joe's might want a stab at anchoring a central downtown location? Pick-up your copy to get the full story, in addition to our group's full page advertisement.

Also today at the Utica Public Library from 4:30-5:30PM, meet with us. Let's hear all views, pro and con, as your input can shape the outcome.

October 2, 2015 Albany, NY- Albany-based headline "Utica hospital plan comes with great promise, few details" features and interview with Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi with POLITICO New York. The story goes on to report "A spokeswoman declined to offer any further details on the new proposed hospital and said the company isn't taking media interviews at this point." Further reported... "As stipulated by the state budget, the state's health commissioner Howard Zucker is charged with distributing the state funding. But until MVHS has specific plans submitted and approved by the New York State Department of Health, no expenditures can be made from the state’s allocation. The DOH has yet to develop the request for application for the new hospital, officials said, and the health system, Griffo said, is working with consultants to plot their course of action on it."

October 1, 2015 Utica, NY- We celebrate win of Upstate NY funding and our two leaders working together; State Senator Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, and Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica- congratulations, and hooray for Utica!

Our group #NoHospitalDowntown celebrates the absence of the word "downtown" in their conversation, as it appears in today's Utica Observer-Dispatch article regarding $300M for a new Utica hospital. Our group is ready to join forces with our state representatives as soon as the "downtown" hospital plan is abandoned.

Consider This! Use the $300M to make an amazing Eds & Meds Complex. Merge multiple Eds and Meds locations on a 350+ acre parcel; two current hospitals and two existing educational institutions!



Imagine how Utica residents would rejoice! Finally a plan to repurpose New York State's nearly 90 acres at the former Utica Psychiatric Center, expansion space for the schools and the St. Lukes campus. A remarkable chance to create a huge parcel that would transform West Utica. And plenty of housing stock to develop, city streets to improved (not bulldoze!), and ample green space for buffers, sidewalks, parks and pathways! Is this not a plan that could rival even the Big Apple?

September 30, 2015 (11:50PM) Utica, NY- Comments (4) below online Utica Observer-Dispatch article regarding #NoHospitalDowntown have returned...

September 30, 2015 (11:13PM) Utica, NY- The Utica Observer-Dispatch removes comments below online articles. Yesterday at least three comments were displayed, and now it’s “no comments”. We share our speech with reporters, TV, radio, the paper took our story, we spoke to government leaders, yet now the media is censoring us. Headline reads "Vocal opponents" Less so after @uticaOD deletes comments...

September 30, 2015 Utica, NY- New weekly meetings- and a third location announced! Today #NoHospitalDowntown gathered at the Tramontane Cafe in Utica. It was decided to continue meeting on Wednesdays from 10 to 11am each week. Stay late for lunch, or come early and grab a coffee or tea. Add the Tram to your calendar, and help us fight to preserve the scale and future of downtown Utica. These new meetings combine with those at the Fort Schuyler Club on Mondays, and Fridays at the Utica Public Library. Please see page bottom for times.

We have so many questions! Please join us in developing better plans for our downtown.

September 29, 2015 Utica, NY- New information on possible downtown hospital location, not a 34 acre parcel, nor 12.5 acres, newest report- there's 17 acres. But this is well below the 25-40 acres that the Mohawk Valley Health System stated was required. Join us #NoHospitalDowntown. Until we’ve been convinced that destroying block-and-blocks of downtown building fabric; buildings, streets and allies are an ABSOLUTE requirement, let's not bulldoze and remove 17 to 34 acres of downtown Utica off the tax rolls...

Consider This! Please take note... our Utica hospital system has three primary sites; Faxton (7 acres) , St Luke’s (41 acres) and St Elizabeth’s (17 acres) , totaling (65 acres). Each location has undergone expansions and expensive improvements in recent years.

Each has steadily expanded by taking over neighboring properties, cutting down trees, razing commercial buildings and or homes (one can see this in the maps linked above). This removes taxable property from the city's revenue and transfers a greater burden onto a smaller set of taxpayers.



Currently the County building and the New York Court are doing the same along Elizabeth Street in downtown Utica, creating even more surface parking and displacing tax-paying businesses at a cost to taxpayers of $2,800,000 for 178 parking spaces ($15,730 each).

Now local leaders in government and healthcare, supported by others in Albany, want more parcels for a new 4th location that will alter a very significant part of downtown Utica forever; they suggest this will use another 34 acres. Our leaders claim to only see blight along Columbia & Lafayette Streets in downtown Utica as they quietly plan a fourth hospital location.

Meanwhile New York State owns nearly 90 acres at the former Utica Psychiatric Center. Remarkably, this huge parcel is not being considered for the new hospital! Why not?

Consider This! New hospital in Prince George's County, MD debated: Dimensions Healthcare Systems. Two opinions include; ““If the hospital is an isolated enclave, it will do little to catalyze economic development in the area and miss the opportunity to use the site's great transit access and mixed use environment.” As well as, “And again, even though hospital complexes have lots of workers, they generally have little time to spend off campus, therefore provide minimal multiplier effect for commercial district revitalization.”

September 28, 2015 Utica, NY- New meetings, additional location, announced: starting today #NoHospitalDowntown will gather on Mondays at the Fort Schuyler Club in downtown Utica from Noon until 1pm. Please consider placing us on your calendar in the coming weeks and months. We'll be meeting, until we’re convinced destroying block of downtown building fabric; buildings, streets and allies are the only thing our downtown Utica economy (and regional/state government leaders) have to offer… bulldozing 34 acres!! Or, is it 12.5 acres? We have so many questions! Please join us in developing a better plan.

Consider This! Another city tried a "downtown mall" twice, but... "Those failures became magnified, because Worcester had bulldozed a huge swath of its downtown and erased key roads to accommodate the mall." The story goes onto say, "The city is currently working on rebuilding a downtown that looks and functions like one. It’s a turnaround plan that celebrates the downtown, instead of suburbanizing it. It recognizes that good downtowns start with people, and once downtowns fill with people, business happens organically." and "CitySquare needs around-the-clock residents to anchor Worcester’s new downtown, not just office workers who punch the clock before driving home."

September 27, 2015 Utica, NY- Hospital plan's Q&A sessions in the near future #NoHospitalDowntown will be ready with many questions, but until then we have a very basic question that is four days old and counting...

September 26, 2015 Utica, NY- Listen to the Common Sense TV Show, Utica, NY: #NoHospitalDowntown, learn our position and gain insights into a proposed New Downtown Utica Hospital. Our position says "NoHospitalDowntown"! At least not until we learn why we need one, where it's best located, in addition to many other details. Listen and we think you'll quickly come to understand- very little planning has been done, and what little was done and released is WRONG!

Frank Vescera, Richard Kaplan, and Jim Brock talk about a potential downtown Utica hospital.

Brett Truett asks a simple math question, but 4 days later it proves hard for planners to answer! Can't we do better? First, we need to get good info... @uticaOD @MVHealthSystem reported a downtown site of 34 acres, but as shown it's only 12.5 acres! @BrettTruett, September 23, 2015 So what's the "real" Downtown Hospital parcel size and configuration?

On 9/23/15 the Utica Observer Dispatch showed readers a 12.5 acre parcel, see red shaded area in below figure. However, the reported plan states a 34 acre site (the black outline). The Mohawk Valley health System stated that they required 25-40 acres for a new hospital. So if the 34 acres is correct, perhaps as time passes the downtown plan will grow? Maybe it places one parking garage to service; doctors, nurses, and city workers at the south end- near city hall. Then a second parking garage (the story reported two) would be to the north; for hospital guests, patients and AUD attendees. For a moment, forget parking garages. Imagine a walkable city, or the lack of one... imagine walks to-and-from; the Utica AUD, Bagg’s Square, Ocean Blue, and Downtown Utica to the Brewery District. Hey, can we catch a hospital shuttle?

Tonight! (9/26/15) At the Utica Public Library from 4:30-5:30pm, let's talk this out...
#YesDowntownHospital or #NoHospitalDowntown

Meeting has come and gone. It was a small group, but it suggested that we're on the right track! Two members of Utica's Master Plan Committee showed up. Both confirmed, not only was a downtown hospital never mentioned (in years of ongoing discussions), both feel a downtown hospital is a terrible idea. We distributed over 30 Position Paper that will be copied and shared. We'll also post more from our first public gathering; the dialogue, links to media coverage, as well as pictures (and some secrete video too!). Please look for us next Friday, October 2 from 4:30 to 5:30pm.

September 25, 2015 Utica, NY- As seen today in the Utica Observer Dispatch, our ad asks area residents to meet with us, today at the Utica Public Library from 4:30-5:30pm. Facebook Group #NoHospitalDowntown is looking to hear your ideas for downtown development. Do you want a hospital, or perhaps something else? We are investigating all aspects of the recent news headlines, and seek your help and thoughts. This and every Friday!

September 24, 2015 Utica, NY- Following yesterday's big headline "New Downtown Hospital voted 1st Choice" by the Mohawk Valley Health System, hear from our very own Jim Brock with his reaction to their decision...

A new downtown Utica hospital mentioned, but not so fast says Jim Brock. Brock mentions, “The MVHS Borad of Directors also unanimously approved the Faxton-St Luke's site opposite Utica College for the new hospital as well.” Brock goes on to say some hospital board members feel strongly a downtown Utica hospital is NOT ideal. Listen to the Jim Brock interview.

Consider This! From the web-
"We're not against hospitals. We need the hospital as much as everybody else. It's just that hospitals don't make good neighbors."

September 24, 2015 Utica, NY- The headline "New Downtown Hospital voted 1st Choice" has people talking. Listen to Frank Elias, of Utica Coffee Roasting, with his thoughts on this downtown development idea...

Currently we have three hospital locations that are exempt from paying real estate taxes. In today’s interview, Frank Elias alerts us to the fact, “Building a fourth hospital removes more city real estate from the tax rolls, increasing and shifting a greater burden onto residents and businesses paying taxes.” Making the situation worse, a hospital tower if built will increase the burden on the city’s budget placing pressure to raise taxes if not mitigated. Listen to the Frank Elias interview.

September 23, 2015 Utica, NY- Today the Utica OD reports on a downtown hospital plan. The location is stated to be the 1st choice for a new hospital as announced by the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS). The new downtown Utica hospital story reports the parcel is 34 acres:

Oddly the report is not correct, this downtown parcel is only 12.5 acres! If the new plan requires 25-40 acres, how does downtown work? How does this site, out of 12 sites considered, land into first place?

Consider This! Why did Utica-area citizens hear about such a major project only after it was planned by government leaders? Consider; the New York Department of Transportation (DOT) posts Projects in Your Neighborhood to their website. The DOT also offers multiple plans for consideration and seeks public input in a variety of ways.

However, this very significant hospital plan was crafted in Albany and written into legislation and called a "HEALTH CARE FACILITY TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM". Yet it was done without local taxpayer discussion or input. Next, citizens are told by their leaders,

"If you don't accept our plan the Utica-area will lose $300M,
you'll be sending the funds to Syracuse or some other city."

Is that fair, is that good representation?

September 22, 2015 Utica, NY- Below, please find Our Group's response to Mohawk Valley Health Systems’s Board of Director’s decision to approve the downtown site as a possible location for the new hospital…

We are respectfully requesting copies of all studies done that allowed the MVHS Board to conclude this downtown location meets the needs of our area’s healthcare.

Additionally, we request that our leaders make the same reports public on their website MV Health System

Our mission is to seek answers and to fully understand the following questions, as well as call on our leaders to address them openly with Utica and Mohawk Valley taxpayers:

1. Will there be a feasibility study done, if so what criteria will be looked at?
2.Can the infrastructure in the downtown location handle a project of this scope? That is; sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water, electricity and gas.
3. What capacities will be left on public utilities for future development?
4. What State and County agencies will be involved in the planning process, what firms have been hired to date?
5. What are tentative start and completion dates for various stages of planning and construction?
6. Will properties be purchased prior to final project approval?
7. Who will be lead local agency?
8. Are there any historical buildings in the planned foot print of the complex? And,
9. How will the public be notified on progress and of public hearings and scoping sessions?

We would like to thank the Mohawk Valley Health System’s Board of Directors for their vision in realizing “if the issues facing a downtown Utica location cannot be resolved, they will look to approve a St Luke’s Campus as the alternative site”.

Let it be further understood, that our group does not seek to generate negative energy and or to throw cold water on what some feel is an exciting plan. To the contrary, #NoHospitalDowntown is a champion for continued downtown Utica development. Our major concern is that we desire professionally-vetted plans and smart development. Our new website and research has only just begun.

In the coming weeks and months we will seek to educate both ourselves and the community as to the best use for downtown real estate. We feel smarter and more innovative development is vitally required to keep our recent successes on track. Such development- even if it is a new hospital- will only come by way of an open dialogue, full public disclosure, and very careful study and planning.

As an example NYS DOT offers numerous public hearings, surveys, alternative plans and open access on their website when major road projects are decided e want the same for this hospital plan and downtowns further development.

Our desire is to be a good friend and citizen to all Utica and Mohawk Valley residents; present, future and to our historic past, so that anyone seeking healthcare, a vibrant downtown (to live, work, and or play) can find it!

Signed on this day September 22, 2015 by: #NoHospitalDowntown Facebook Group

September 18, 2015 Utica, NY- Look for our ad in Mohawk Valley and Utica publications...