2001

Buffalo, NY, Dec. 4, 2001 - The Kaleida Health Board of Directors announced today that further plans to consider relocating The Children's Hospital of Buffalo from its current Bryant Street location to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus on High Street have been put on hold.

The decision was made due to the uncertainty of the Western New York economy and Kaleida's own fiscal challenges. It is part of Kaleida Health's stewardship responsibility to the community to maintain financial stability before moving forward on an undertaking the scope of building a new hospital.

Financial responsibility has always been a precursor to the hospital's move. In June 2000, after an Ad Hoc Committee recommended to the Kaleida Board that Children's Hospital should be moved to High Street, a Steering Committee was formed to pursue the planning process. The foundation of the Steering Committee's work were eight points known as the "Conditions Precedent," prerequisites to be met before the hospital could move. One of these conditions was the development of a detailed financial plan and the securing of financial commitments.

"Due to current financial challenges facing both Kaleida and Western New York, the Board of Directors has concluded that it would be irresponsible, both in the interest of its patients and the community, to move forward on a project the size and scope of moving a hospital at this time," Gerald Lippes, Chair of the Kaleida Health Board of Directors, said. However, "Kaleida Health will reevaluate the possibility of moving Children's Hospital in the future when conditions are right," Lippes continued.

To help ensure future success, the health system is working with The Hunter Group, a leading national firm specializing in the development of successful strategic plans for hospitals and health care systems. The firm is helping Kaleida examine factors that influence decisions not only about Children's, but on all facilities and services within the health system, and to set the best possible course for the future. "Although this guidance is very valuable and helpful, it does not take a consulting firm to tell us that raising the funds necessary for a new, state-of-the-art children's hospital is not feasible at this time," Lippes said.

Founded in 1892, The Children's Hospital of Buffalo is the regional center for comprehensive, specialized pediatric care while providing a complete range of women's health services. As a regional medical center, Children's Hospital provides care through designations that include the following: Regional Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, WNY Regional Pediatric Trauma Center, High-risk and Teenage Pregnancy Center, Regional Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Regional Referral Center for Pediatric HIV/AIDS, and the regional center for inpatient and outpatient Developmental Pediatrics and Rehabilitation, among others.

In 1998, Children's Hospital became part of Kaleida Health, which includes Buffalo General Hospital, DeGraff Memorial Hospital, Millard Fillmore Gates and Suburban Hospitals and affiliates.