The planned downtown Utica hospital project has taken a step forward with contingent approval from the Establishment and Project Review Committee within the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC). Published reports indicate there is $300 million in state funding for the project.
This approval was based on a review of Mohawk Valley Health System’s (MVHS) Certificate of Need. The contingencies include a demonstration of site control and financing for the hospital’s share of construction costs, WKTV reports.
MVHS had submitted its 400-plus page Certificate of Need application in November, and at that time, the Health System had to have at least 30 percent of its construction drawings completed. The facility is projected to be about 670,000 sq. ft..
“Today we met with the Establishment and Project Review Committee (EPRC) of the Public Health and Health Planning Council to discuss our Certificate of Need (CON) application for the construction of the new healthcare campus,” MVHS president/CEO Scott Perra said in a statement. “We are extremely pleased that the EPRC overwhelmingly approved the application today, and this approval keeps us within our original timeline to break ground in 2019. The CON will now go to the full council on Thursday, April 12, 2018.”
The deadline for property owners to sign offers to leave the downtown hospital footprint has expired. MVHS has declined to say how many signed offers they’ve received.
The project will be assembled on properties owned by dozens of owners and it is uncertain how many properties will need to be claimed through eminent domain provisions.
