Reprinted from Post Journal 3/16/10
Thanks to a $1.1 million gift from Western New York Urology Associates, WCA Hospital will be able to move forward with ''a number of projects.''
That's according to Betsy Wright, the hospital's president and CEO, who said Monday that hospital administrators are ''incredibly grateful'' to WNYUA for the donation of its former office building, located at 103 Allen St.
''The property was sold to us at a much reduced price,'' Ms. Wright said. ''We would not have been able to acquire this building without their generosity. This will not only allow us to continue enhancing the medical care we provide here at WCA but will help us move forward with plans to increase efficiency as we redesign and relocate some services.''
The 7,469-square-foot Allen Street building once housed WNYUA's Jamestown office, but the group recently moved into a new, state-of-the-art facility located next-door to WCA Hospital at 117 Foote Avenue. The three-story building used to house Period Brass but had, in recent years, become what Bill Daly, the administrative director of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, called ''an eyesore.''
''We went from an eyesore to a beautiful, top-notch facility in less than a year,'' he said. ''That generated a lot of momentum and it's another arrow in our quiver.''
Just how WCA Hospital will use the Allen Street building has yet to be determined, though Ms. Wright said it would likely house either services currently located at Jones Memorial Health Center or those that are located inside WCA Hospital but would be better in an outpatient setting.
''It could honestly house anything,'' she said. ''It's set up very well for clinical or support services. This very generous donation allows us to move forward with a number of projects we have under way.''
Dr. Peter Walter, a WNYUA partner, said he and his associates - Drs. Ichabod Jung and Ryan White - viewed the donation as a way to ''give something back.''
''Without all of us working together, our dream of creating a urological center in Jamestown would not have been realized,'' Dr. Walter said. ''We are proud to be in a position to give something back to the community that has supported us so well over the years. It's gratifying to know WCA Hospital will use the building to continue providing high quality health care.''
Mayor Sam Teresi, Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards and Daly each said they were pleased that WNYUA had not only donated their former building to WCA Hospital but that their new facility would, as Edwards put it, ''be an anchor for a medical corridor that runs from this hospital into the downtown.''
''This is a tremendous day,'' Teresi said. ''This signifies a major step in the development of Jamestown's quality of life and a major economic step toward our future. When good people work together, good things happen.''
By Kristen Johnson