Demolition at the Strong Memorial Hospital, the flagship facility at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center, is underway as part of a $640 million expansion project, reports ABC affiliate WHAM.
Some of the buildings being demolished are decades old, the April 19 report said.
"When you walk through our emergency department, you can see the physicians are delivering world-class health care, and they are just so strained and you know, you see it in the nursing staff, all of the support staff, it's very difficult," Robert Maloney, the project coordinator, told WHAM.
As well as the renovated emergency department, a patient tower is being developed, which will mainly be used for intensive care and inpatient cardiovascular care.
The end goal is a nine-story building to include the emergency department and five stories of inpatient space. Construction is expected to be complete in 2027.
Strong Memorial has 886 beds and forms part of a six-hospital system run by the University of Rochester Medical Center. The system employs more than 26,000 people.