University of Rochester Medical Center to invest $500 Million

With the recent completion of its 2007-2012 Strategic Plan, the U of R Medical Center has some ambitious goals. According to a press release, URMC will invest $500 million into research, facilities, patient care, and personnel recruitment over the next 5 to 10 years. It will construct - pending state approval (likely) - a six story addition to Strong Memorial Hospital. The $259 million "PRISM" project, as the addition is known by, will add 123 beds to Strong's current capacity. There are also plans for an off-campus ambulatory surgery center to handle thousands of surgeries each year that can't be accommodated in Strong's current operating rooms. But one of the cornerstones of the URMC's strategic plan is the construction of the Clinical and Translational Sciences Building. Governor Spitzer has committed $50 million in state funding for the building - which will be the first of its kind in the country. Designed to foster the process of turning medical research into clinical trials, and then into standard treatment, the building is a major part of a plan to boost Rochester's expertise in Biomedical research. The University is also gaining a reputation for its research of stem cells. All of this is part of a determined effort to become one of the top 20 university medical centers in the country. U of R officials say the changes going on will have a huge economic impact on Rochester - they estimate that by 2015, over 700 new staff members will be hired by the medical center, and that an average of 1,400 construction jobs will be sustained between 2008 and 2012. A report by the Center for Governmental Research estimates that 1,000 jobs will be created in the community as a result of the expansion of the URMC. The University of Rochester is the largest employer in Monroe County.