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Opening the Doors to More Accessible Care for CNY and Beyond

For the past four years, Upstate Orthopedics has visited the best orthopedic institutes across the country to observe best practices; identified the full spectrum of services an orthopedic patient may need; and scouted the most conveniently located building sites in Central New York.

Those efforts have resulted in the Upstate Bone & Joint Center, which will open in December. It will be the new home of the practice and provide patients with a full range of orthopedic services.

The nearly 100,000 square-foot Center – at 6620 Fly Road, East Syracuse – is located on 37 acres and will offer easy access from all major highways and the Thruway, free parking, easy drop-off service, and house the surgical orthopedic practice; an ambulatory surgery center; imaging services; custom orthotics and prosthetics; physical and occupational therapy; a pain management center; a lab for blood work; and an Upstate Medical University conference and training center that will offer special health care programming for both providers and consumers. It is only one of a few comprehensive bone and joint centers in New York state with the closest facility located in Albany.

The facility will employ approximately 175 individuals and provide a much-needed shot in the arm to the East Syracuse business community, which was impacted by the downsizing and closure of Magna. The Center also brings in patients from 14 surrounding counties as well as residents who are training with Upstate Orthopedics’ surgeons.

Upstate Orthopedics is a medical group affiliated with Upstate Medical University and employs 80 staff members in addition to its 16 surgeons. Each member of the practice is Fellowship trained – meaning they have an extra year of training and practice exclusively in that niche area. For example, the foot and ankle physician on staff focuses exclusively on fractures of the foot and ankle, foot and ankle deformities, ankle replacements, arthroscopic surgery of the foot and ankle, and other disorders of the foot and ankle. The hand and wrist physicians/surgeons focus on carpel tunnel syndrome and peripheral nerve compression, hand and wrist fractures and tendon injuries, hand and finger reconstruction, and other hand and wrist specific challenges.

Its physicians are also teachers. Its doctors have trained many of the orthopedic surgeons practicing locally. Upstate Orthopedics has also earned the honor of being designated a Center of Excellence for orthopedic spine care – one of just 22 such distinguished sites in the country and the only one in this region.

The practice’s move not only provides more accessible care for patients but made sense on other fronts too. Last year, Upstate Orthopedics saw approximately 45,000 patient visits. In the 2009 calendar year to date, Upstate Orthopedics has seen an increase of 6,500 patient visits. By year’s end, the practice is expecting to have seen 10 percent growth. With more patients, its current facility became less practical.

“Not only were we outgrowing our current office space, but we saw our relocation as an opportunity to provide truly accessible care to our patients - who have varying, and often severe, mobility challenges - under one roof,” said Stephen Albanese, MD. “Probably the greatest advantage of the facility though is that patients will receive comprehensive care for their orthopedic concerns from onsite health care specialists who are working collaboratively in their treatment.”

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