This year Highland marked the 125th anniversary of its founding on
South Avenue
; during its history, it has grown from a tiny community hospital to a regional destination for specialty surgical services. The numbers help tell the story: each year Highland provides some 40,000 ED visits, 16,000 surgeries and 3000 births to the community and region it serves.
Close to home, in the South Wedge neighborhood, some of our neighbors have shared concerns about the hospital’s impact on the neighborhood. For the past two years,
Highland
has met regularly with a group of neighbors living in
Rockingham
,
Mount Vernon
and
Bellevue
residences to address quality-of-life issues – the hospital’s appearance, noise, traffic flow and litter. Much progress has been made, with more work to do; but
Highland
’s purchase of 27
Bellevue
in late 2013 and its interest in using the property for office space raised neighbor interest and concern. In late spring, the group Defend Urban Neighborhoods formed and organized a petition urging that
Highland
“not expand beyond the hospital's current footprint into the residential neighborhood.”
Highland
and representatives from South Wedge community organizations and businesses began regular meetings in April and met again in late May to discuss the hospital’s facility plans and potential effect on the neighborhood. The goal of these meetings is proactive information-sharing, open dialogue and finding ways to ensure South Wedge continues to be a vibrant city neighborhood. At the May meeting, hospital officials updated neighbor representatives that
Highland
is not interested in purchasing additional neighborhood properties. In June, the hospital’s Board of Directors approved putting 27
Bellevue
up for sale since its facility construction plans had changed and the hospital would no longer need supplemental office space during construction.
The reasons behind the latest developments have to do with two construction options
Highland
had been weighing over the past year, and the hospital’s decision in April to take the more conservative approach.
To maintain a facility that meets current health care building standards,
Highland
needs to increase the number of private patient rooms and build some new, larger-scale operating rooms. A facility master plan recommended two construction options. For Option 1,
Highland
would build a 2-level addition on the south side of the hospital that would house six new operating rooms plus a 25-bed observation unit. Creating a new observation unit would free up space on
Highland
’s inpatient floors, enabling it to convert semi-private inpatient rooms to private rooms. For Option 2,
Highland
would build this 2-story Observation Unit/OR addition, plus demolish the 5-story South Wing of the hospital to construct an all-new patient care wing.
At the May neighborhood steering group meeting,
Highland
shared with neighbors that after careful consideration, the hospital had selected Option 1.
Highland
’s leadership and Board of Directors had been evaluating both options over the course of the past year; knowing that the larger construction project would displace many people in its South Wing, the hospital was evaluating whether nearby properties could be used as office “swing space” to temporarily place staff during construction. Now, because the 5-story South Wing will remain intact, far fewer staff members will need to be relocated during
Highland
’s planned construction. That April decision eliminated the need to seek available residential property in the South Wedge.
The proposed addition will meet
Highland
’s facility needs for the foreseeable future.
Next steps:
The hospital is working with the City of
Rochester
to update its zoning status and will include specifications on the proposed 2-story hospital addition in its zoning application. A parking plan will also be included in the application.
The next meeting with representatives from neighborhood groups, business leaders, city of
Rochester
and
Highland
Hospital
will take place in August, with monthly meetings planned.
Highland
presented information on its facility plans at a meeting of the Sector 6 on July 14.
Highland
attends monthly Sector 6 meetings and we’ll provide updates on the project as things progress. For information or to share concerns with
Highland
Hospital
, contact Public Relations Director Barbara Ficarra at 585.341.6210 (office) or 585.424.0315 (mobile) or email her at Barbara_Ficarra@urmc.rochester.edu.
Barbara Ficarra has been Public Relations Director at
Highland
Hospital
since 2008.