D’Youville Celebrates Hub Raising for New Health Professions Hub

D’Youville Celebrates Hub Raising for New Health Professions Hub

The D’Youville community, local executives, elected officials and alumni, kicked off construction on the Health Professions Hub on Friday, September 27 at Connecticut Street and West Avenue. A 3D model of the building was created during the event by CannonDesign team members.

The project received its final approvals on Monday, September 23 from the City of Buffalo Planning Board. The 59,860 square-foot education, training and community health center will create a unique and innovative learning environment for students, while offering families in the College’s West Side neighborhood greater access to high quality primary care services.

The Hub, akin to a teaching hospital, will deliver clinical care in a diverse environment, preparing learners and retraining professionals with skills for an evolving health delivery system. The Hub will offer community and home healthcare services with training using wrap-around interdisciplinary health teams. D’Youville’s ultimate goal is four-fold: to mitigate chronic illness by viewing the patient as a whole, to grow jobs, eliminate provider shortages, and create a living-wage ecosystem in the community.

“The Hub will be a world-class structure that will be the future of health care and a beacon for preparing health care providers to deliver superior quality care to those in need, starting here on the West Side of Buffalo, with the promise of developing a model that can be scaled across the state and nation,” said Lorrie Clemo PhD, president of D’Youville.

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“It will not only have visual impact in beautifying our neighborhood, but much more importantly, it will have far-reaching social impact on our multi-ethnic, underserved community, which is D’Youville’s mission in action.”

The Hub will prepare future healthcare providers through innovative educational methods with an emphasis on inter-professional practice. This will assure that all health professions students can truly function on an integrated team focused on high-quality, patient-centered care.

Buffalo has been designated by the national government as an area with a shortage of health professionals, and along with this shortage, there is a gap in the education and training of health professionals to meet the needs of an ever-changing industry. As an established leader in the education of health professionals, D’Youville is uniquely positioned to help alleviate these issues through The Hub and the forward-thinking training and education methods The Hub will provide.

D’Youville was awarded $5 million by New York State through the Higher Education Capital (HECap) Matching Grant Program for the construction of the Health Professions Hub. This is the largest single award the college has ever received. The project moved forward with the strong support of the D’Youville Board of Trustees and local and regional elected officials. Construction is expected to begin in October, with completion in late 2020.

“The Hub is an incredible opportunity to further connect to the greater Buffalo community while allowing students to have a fully immersed, cross-functional educational experience,” Jamel Perkins, D'Youville board president said.

This community collaboration recalls the spirit and mission of founders St. Marguerite d’Youville and the Grey Nuns, who heeded the call to offer education, alleviate suffering and build healthy, thriving communities.

“Today’s groundbreaking for the Health Professions Hub is another milestone for D’Youville College, and equally great news for the City of Buffalo, especially West Side residents,” stated Mayor Byron W. Brown.  “As my Administration continues its city-wide efforts to make Buffalo an inclusive and equitable place of opportunity for all people, the Hub will offer a path to good-paying, in-demand health-related jobs and training for City residents.  I thank Governor Andrew Cuomo and the other funding partners for supporting initiatives that are enabling all residents to share in the economic transformation of our city and I look forward to the Hub’s opening!”

Catholic Health obtained $5,070,000 from Community Partners of Western New York to support the development of The Hub. D’Youville and the Catholic Health will collaborate on the clinical training center, featuring unique and innovative learning environments for students, those seeking retraining and certification, and offering families in the College’s West Side neighborhood greater access to high-quality primary care services.

Mark A. Sullivan, president and CEO, Catholic Health said,  “Catholic Health was founded on meeting the needs of the community, within the community.   We look forward to building an environment with D’Youville where we carry out our mission to serve all, while providing hands on experience for future healthcare professionals, teaching and connecting them to the community in which they live.  The Hub is a model which will enable us together to transform healthcare in Western New York as well as the health of our community….it is our honor and our responsibility,” 

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Mark Sullivan, president and CEO, Catholic Health

Senator Chris Jacobs said: "I am very excited to see construction start on D'Youville's excited Health Professions HUB, a transformative project that will fulfill the needs of the college, the healthcare industry and the medically underserved residents of the area."

Congressman Brian Higgins said, “I’ve had the opportunity to be on the D’Youville campus several times in just the last few months and the Health Professions HUB is the latest in a list of exciting developments happening here.  D’Youville has always been an important community partner on Buffalo’s West Side.  The Health Professions HUB grows the neighborhood impact while educating and training the next generations of professionals in the high-demand healthcare delivery field.”

Assemblymember Sean M. Ryan said, "The Hub represents a vision truly befitting the City of Good Neighbors as its synergistic approach will benefit so many in our community. It will provide underserved individuals and families access to care, will assist health care professionals in building their careers, will mitigate the area's health care professional shortfalls, and will spur economic development in Buffalo's West Side and Western New York as a whole. I applaud D'Youville for its inclusive, community-centered vision and look forward to the many health, quality-of-life, educational, professional development, and economic development rewards that The Hub will generate.  

Buffalo Council Majority Leader David Rivera said, “This project will bring much needed community health services to the West Side of Buffalo. Our most successful programs occur when institutions work together with the community to make sure the resources provided are what the community needs. I thank D’Youville for their continued investment in their campus with a project that opens its doors to the entire neighborhood.”

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Also announced at the event was the Best in Show winner of the inaugural Healthcare Hackathon competition held September 21-22. Team Journey was awarded an additional $5,000 along with resources to aid in the development of their platform. The team presented on a microservices platform, Journey, to improve the patient experience. The platform would allow patients and families to track their medical care experiences as well as track progress of surgery, determine patient’s location, and receive live updates on changes in status.