Lockport Memorial Hospital to open Oct. 10

An extreme need for quality medical care in eastern Niagara County has been filled with the upcoming opening of the new Lockport Memorial Hospital scheduled to open its doors to the public on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 8 a.m.

A blessing and dedication ceremony hosted by Catholic Health on the property at 6100 Shimer Drive happened on a portion of land that previously was part of Hall’s Apple Farm, a local area landmark.

Catholic Health first announced plans to build the new “neighborhood” hospital in Lockport nearly three years ago to ensure more than 80,000 residents in the surrounding community would continue to have access to high quality health care following the closure of Eastern Niagara Hospital. 

“There is a great need for quality health care in Niagara County,” explained Msgr. Robert E. Zapfel, STD, MBA, Catholic Health chair of the corporate members and sponsors. “And many sleepless nights occurred as this team worked to make this hospital a reality.”

The 60,000-square-foot facility, which is a campus of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, features an 18-bed full-service Emergency Department; 10-bed inpatient unit with the ability to expand to 20 beds; diagnostic imaging and laboratory services, including blood draw; and medical offices for primary care, women’s health, and specialty care services, which are slated to open by the end of October. Mount St. Mary’s temporary emergency room at 5875 S. Transit Road in Lockport, which has been serving the community since mid-June, is set to close at 8 a.m. on Oct. 10 to coincide with the opening of the Emergency Department at Lockport Memorial. 

Catholic Health secured bond financing, public and private grants, and charitable donations to help fund the $70 million project. New York state invested more than $30 million to fund the new hospital, support Mount St. Mary’s temporary emergency room, and ensure continuity of care at Eastern Niagara Hospital for much of the construction.

The neighborhood hospital model creates a multi-purpose health care facility to meet the needs of area residents. “While this has been a challenging time for health care providers everywhere, rural hospitals have been hit particularly hard because the old models of the past are simply not viable today,” Catholic Health President & CEO Joyce Markiewicz explained. “When we developed our plans for Lockport Memorial, we knew we had to create something that was sustainable for the long term. With emergency, inpatient, diagnostic and physician services, Lockport Memorial Hospital will be able to care for patients when they are sick or injured, provide primary and specialty care to help people maintain their health, and, when needed, offer direct access to the advanced medical and surgical services available throughout Catholic Health.” 

Major charitable donations came from the Grigg Lewis Foundation, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, John R. Oishei Foundation, First Niagara Foundation in partnership with KeyBank, M&T Charitable Foundation, Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, Eastern Niagara Hospital Guild, Collins Family Foundation, and Glenn and Sandra Miller.   

The hospital was designed by the architectural firm Clark Patterson Lee. M/E Engineering served as the project engineer and The Pike Company provided construction management. Plans are currently underway to create an emergency vehicle access road from Route 93, the Lockport Bypass, to expedite hospital access for ambulances and other emergency vehicles.