By Ashley Hassett
Buffalo, NY – Erie County Medical Center held a topping off ceremony Tuesday for a new kidney transplant center.
The last beam was put into place on the frame of the building. ECMC board members and medical staff signed the beam before it was hoisted into up into the air and added to the structure.
ECMC CEO Jody Lomeo said when the building is finished it will help provide jobs for those in the medical field.
"Often I talk about how we need to stop and hopefully prevent people from having to go out of town or out of state for their transplantation services. Today I think is the first sign that were going to have people coming into Western New York for those service and keeping our own here," said Lomeo.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brain Murray said this new building will allow for more kidney research and to treat more patients.
"There's a significant shortage of dialysis spaces in the city of Buffalo. In recent years we've had patients who couldn't be discharged from the hospital for several weeks because of inadequate slots, so that's part of the reason for expanding the services here, as-well as consolidating the units from Buffalo General and ECMC to form one large unit," said Murray.
A tentative ribbon cutting date for the transplant center is expected in December.