Work begins on addition to Rome Health hospital. Here's what's coming

Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch
·2 min read

Site work has begun on Rome Health’s latest addition — a new intensive care unit and the Kaplan Center for Surgical Services.

Hospital officials announced the project during a ceremonial “groundbreaking” back in November, but work had not actually begun yet.

The project will include construction of a 30,000 square-foot, three-story addition on the hospital’s north side and renovation of the space currently housing the hospital’s 57-year-old operating rooms and intensive care unit.

Rome Health is building an addition to its hospital to be known as the Kaplan Center for Surgical Services, seen here in an artist's rendering. The project also includes renovations to the hospital's existing surgical department. The work is expected to be finished in summer, 2026.
Rome Health is building an addition to its hospital to be known as the Kaplan Center for Surgical Services, seen here in an artist's rendering. The project also includes renovations to the hospital's existing surgical department. The work is expected to be finished in summer, 2026.

“The $45.7 million capital project will enhance the experience for patients and their families,” President/CEO AnneMarie Czyz said in a statement, “while supporting the care team in delivering the best care out there here.”

The mild weather earlier in the month allowed the construction crew from Haynor Hoyt Corporation in Syracuse to excavate and start pouring the footings for the addition, officials said. The foundation walls will be built over the next few weeks. The project, being done in three phases, should be completed in the summer of 2026.

The phases will allow hospital staff to continue using space in the existing surgical suite and intensive care unit while the first phases are completed.

The project has received a $26 million New York State Transformation Grant and $3 million in American Recovery Plan Act funds from Rome. Private philanthropy has raised most of the remaining capital, but the hospital is still fundraising to cover the last $1.5 million.

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“Every gift, large or small, brings us closer to our goal,” Rome Health Foundation Executive Director Chester W. DiBari III said in a statement. “Through your generosity, we are transforming community-based healthcare to provide local access to great care in state-of-the-art facilities.”

The addition will house four operating rooms, two procedural rooms and a nine-bed intensive care unit. Renovations to the existing surgical department will create improved spaces for pre-operative and post-operative care and add space for staff support.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Rome Health begins site work on surgery addition