After 87 years, the Erie County Home in Alden is closing and residents and staff are moving to the ECMC Health Campus in Buffalo. Hundreds of employees and officials were on hand for the ribbon-cutting of the new Terrace View Long-Term Care Facility Friday. Erie County Medical Center CEO Jody Lomeo says the "resident-centered" home part of a $200 million investment on the Grider Street campus.
"Terrace View really is about our responsibility to the generation before us who helped build our community and also to the generation that comes after us," Lomeo said.
Terrace View is expected to save nearly $1 million a year in transportation costs alone by eliminating the 32-mile round trip from Alden to ECMC. Residents will begin moving on Saturday.
"We've reduced our bed count from 722 beds to 390. That will save not only ECMC dollars, but it will save millions of dollars for our partners in the county and the State of New York," Lomeo said.
Most of the cost of the $103 state-of-the-art million facility was borrowed through the county's Fiscal Stability Authority. The building features 12-bed households featuring living and dining rooms, kitchens, fireplaces, indoor terrace lounges, and outdoor terraces.
The move brings 400 jobs back to the City of Buffalo.