D’Youville College continues to expand its footprint on the city’s West Side. Thanks to a $5 million grant, the college will be building a new Health Professions Hub at the intersection of Connecticut and West. The 50,000-square foot Health Professions Hub is made possible with funding from New York State Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program (HECap). The building will be used to train healthcare workforce.

D’Youville plans on raising an additional $15 million to build the hub over the next two years, via public and private grants, foundations, individual gifts, and donations. The $20 million project will get underway in 2019. It is slated to open in 2020.

“We are honored to receive the largest award in D’Youville’s history,” said President Lorrie Clemo. “The HECap grant is a transformative step in opening up a world of opportunity for our students, college, and community, helping to establish Western New York as a premier location for health career enhancement.”

While 5 million is an important number to remember because that’s the amount of the grant, I also want you to think about 10,000 — 10,000 jobs in healthcare that will have to be filled over the next six years in Buffalo and Western New York. D’Youville will be on the front lines of preparing people in our community to fill those jobs.

“The Hub is going to be a gift,” continued Clemo. “That gift is not for D’Youville, the gift is not even for the building itself – as it has been said, D’Youville is not a bunch of buildings, it is people caring for other others and their world. The Hub primary purpose is for healthier people, raising the money and getting The Hub built is a promise for a healthier tomorrow.”

“I would like to thank D’Youville’s distinguished faculty and thought leaders, State Senator Chris Jacobs, Senator Tim Kennedy, D’Youville Class of ’99, Assemblyman Sean Ryan, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, and the entire Western New York delegation whose tireless efforts went into procuring this extraordinary award, and helping us to achieve our vision of creating a beacon for health professions for the State and beyond. We also thank Mayor Byron Brown for his leadership and support, our D’Youville Board of Trustees, generous donors, the Western New York healthcare leadership and countless other community leaders for their support and work on D’Youville’s behalf,” added Clemo.

“The HECap grant is a significant step to help D’Youville establish itself as the preeminent center for health career training and workforce preparedness while meeting the complex healthcare needs of society,” said Dr. Maureen Finney, School of Health Professions Dean. “Our Health Professions Hub, with interprofessional skills training, will help address the world’s healthcare provider shortage by producing more highly-skilled professionals right here in Western New York. In addition, we will improve public health by addressing the needs of the underserved in our community.”

“The real future of this community is here. To have this project right here in our community right next to the school, a part of the school, this is going to teach new clinicians how to collaborate, how to work in interdisciplinary teams,” said Charles Urlaub, D’Youville’s Board of Trustee’s Chairperson and President/CEO of Mercy Hospital. “The folks that came before us had a vision for D’Youville to be a leader in healthcare education. We find ourselves right now in a situation where we can take advantage of this vision and be able to bring this collaboration together.”

“I know this is the largest award for D’Youville but as far as the HECap Grant it was the largest as well, so of anywhere in the State of New York, this was the largest grant, and it says so much about your leadership and everyone here in the room, staff, and board members that have done so much to create an incredible project and is something that will be a model for the future,” said Senator Chris Jacobs. “We want to make sure that students coming out of D’Youville can seize those jobs in the medical fields and stay here. We no longer have our biggest export being our best and our brightest young people.”

“This is a transformational project for our entire community, not just the D’Youville campus. I’m honored to be here as an alumnus, I’m honored to be here as a representative of the West Side of Buffalo and a member of the NYS Senate. Regardless of where this project would be, it would be transformational because it’s about investing in our future,” said Senator Tim Kennedy. “The Hub is going to be essential for all of Western New York no matter where you’re from, no matter what you look like, no matter what your socio-economic status is. This is going to be a beacon of hope, right here on the West Side of Buffalo as D’Youville has acted for over 100 years.”

“This is economic development in a place that’s been in our community, and it’s going to stay in our community. So, I fully support these partnerships with our colleges and universities because it works,” said Assemblyman Sean Ryan. “D’Youville has been educating occupational therapists, physical therapists, and chiropractors for a long time. But you can’t get any of those services right around the College. People who are living in this community have to go elsewhere to see them. The Hub will allow these services to be offered right here in our community.”

“I want to congratulate Dr. Clemo and her extraordinary management team for putting together the top application for this funding in the entire State of New York,” Mayor Byron W. Brown said. “While 5 million is an important number to remember because that’s the amount of the grant, I also want you to think about 10,000 — 10,000 jobs in healthcare that will have to be filled over the next six years in Buffalo and Western New York. D’Youville will be on the front lines of preparing people in our community to fill those jobs. And as this institution has done for 100 years, helping people in the community lift themselves out of poverty and make a life for their families and build community.”