A three-year, $43 million project is getting underway at Erie County Medical Center to replace approximately 4,100 windows and repaint the exterior of the hospital's main building, the largest on campus.
Peter Cutler, ECMC's vice president of communications and external affairs, says this is not just a cosmetic update, but rather a chance to insert energy-efficient windows to better protect the building from Buffalo's weather elements.
"The ECMC building was opened in 1978. There hasn't been any real significant external, or even interal, upgrades to the building in that time. So we're doing a pretty comprehensive upgrade right now," Cutler told WBFO.
Cutler says the project will go slowly, replacing five windows at a time, to minimize any disruptions to patient care and other hospital operations inside.
ECMC is also undergoing a nearly $60 million transformation of its trauma and emergency unit. That project is expected to be completed sometime early next year.
