Important milestones, past and future, for #mvhsdowntown:
November 2014: MVHS announces it is “exploring opportunities to possibly fund and build a new, single hospital for the community”
2015: MVHS begins community engagement, eventually holding hundreds of meetings, large and small, with individuals, neighborhood groups, organizations, community leaders, inviting feedback from thousands of area residents
January 2015: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo cites the project in his State of the State address, saying $300 million would help “to create an integrated healthcare system in Oneida County”
April 2015: NYS Legislature approves budget with $300 million for “a capital
project . . . located in the largest population center in Oneida County that will consolidate
multiple licensed health care facilities into an integrated system of care.”
September 2015: MVHS Board of Directors approves Downtown Utica site for regional healthcare campus project
March 2016: Legislature affirms $300 million in project funding
November 2016-January 2017: MVHS prepares and files Request for Application to obtain the budgeted $300 million
January 2017: Public forums held at Radisson; project architectural and construction firms hired
April 2017: NYS Health Department announces that MVHS is the recipient of the $300 million described in the budget
October 2017: Community Foundation, Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce, Genesis Group, Mohawk Valley EDGE announce united support for project
November 2017: Regional healthcare campus site plan unveiled
December 2017: Informational sessions held at Radisson
April 2018: NYS Health Department approves Certificate of Need with contingencies; business owners, developers gather in support of project; City of Utica, Oneida County announce eminent domain responsibility
May 2018: More than 40 percent of affected property owners have signed purchase option agreements with MVHS
June 2018: The required environmental review often referred to by its acronym, SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review), is underway. Union members and other project supporters ralliy outside SEQR hearing.
July 2018: City of Utica Planning Board votes unanimously to accept final SEQR scoping document, which outlines what will be addressed in the project’s environmental impact statement.
October 2018: Projected conclusion of environmental review process
Mid-2019: Groundbreaking and start of construction
2022: Project completion
