Over the past six years, UPMC Chautauqua, formerly W.C.A. Hospital, has seen major improvements through its affiliation with UPMC.

Brian Durniok, UPMC Chautauqua president, told The Post-Journal that a “substantial amount” of investment has been made in the UPMC Chautauqua hospital over the past six years. As the hospital continues to grow and improve under its continued partnership and affiliation with UPMC, Durniok said there are additional “exciting projects” being planned for the “immediate future.”

“When UPMC and the former WCA Hospital agreed to integrate to make UPMC Chautauqua, the agreement was that UPMC would provide us with $25 million dollars for improvements,” he said. “We’ve already spent $54 million in the six years we’ve been part of the system, so not only do we get our $25 million, but obviously we had a substantial amount beyond that.”

As part of the upgrades to UPMC Chautauqua, Durniok said the hospital built a “beautiful” new medical oncology unit to provide state-of-the-art medical oncology care for people in the Jamestown region. Durniok explained that the oncology unit is a new service line for the hospital, which was “very much needed.”

“We’ve invested a lot in a lot of new imaging and radiology equipment, and having the latest technology enhances the quality of care and ensures better outcomes, so we were thrilled with a lot of that investment,” he said.

Durniok said the $54 million invested in improvements has also covered infrastructure needs to ensure that the hospital continue to meet regulatory standards, a renovation of the pharmacy, as well as equipment like the new Da Vinci robot that provides patients with state-of-the-art surgical care at UPMC Chautauqua.

Investments in UPMC Chautauqua also provided the hospital with a new residential treatment program at the Jones Memorial Health Center UPMC Chautauqua location.

Durniok said UPMC Chautauqua has received “a lot of money” through the New York Department of Health Transformation capital funding.

“The initial large investment we received was approximately $20 million that was used to build a new behavioral health unit here at the hospital, which is for both adolescents and adults,” he said. “The other new unit was a woman’s and maternity care unit upstairs.”

Recently, UPMC Chautauqua was awarded a $29 million Health Care Facility Transformation grant. Durniok told The Post-Journal that the $29 million grant will allow the hospital to “completely refurbish” all of its operating rooms and service line. The project will be completed in a phased approach that will allow UPMC Chautauqua to continue to perform surgeries, while upgrading different parts of the service line. Durniok said the project is expected to take a couple years to complete.

In addition to state funding for future projects, Durniok said UPMC is helping the hospital fund other projects that remain in the hospital’s “queue,” such as a “major renovation” of UPMC Chautauqua’s laboratory and an update and renovation of the hospital’s swing lab that is used for cardiology services and interventional procedures.

Between the significant investment and major increases in technology at UPMC, Durniok said the hospital is “transforming” the way it is able to provide care for patients in the region.

Asked what kind of impact UPMC Chautauqua has had on the local community as a result of improvements and projects at the hospital, Durniok said the impact has been “multi-factorial.”

“The first thing I would say is being part of a large world class health system like UPMC has afforded us access to technology that otherwise probably wouldn’t be in a community hospital our size,” he said. “In doing so, it does a couple of things. It allows us to ensure high quality, patient safe access for the community.”

With increased access to technology, Durniok said patients can have confidence that they are being cared for with “state-of-the-art equipment when they come to UPMC Chautauqua for things such as an imaging procedure or delivering a baby. He added that technology improvements represent both a quality and safety enhancement for patients.

Along with improvements to technology at UPMC Chautauqua, Durniok said the affiliation with UPMC has benefited the hospital with increase access to information through the “big system” of UPMC.

“Being able to access experts to help us navigate situations like the pandemic is really a wonderful advantage for us as an organization,” he said. “We’re able to pick up the phone or have a team meeting and you’re talking to some of the best experts in the country to help us deal with whether it’s a routine problem or a brand-new problem like an unexpected pandemic.”

With all of the improvements at UPMC Chautauqua over the past six years, Durniok said he has watched the hospital improve its quality, invest in technology and offer additional services, ensuring that patients “get good outcomes” at the hospital.

“Our mission is to really to make sure that the patients who come here get a great experience, that they have a high-quality outcome not only from a perspective of the quality of care, but the service that they’re receiving from our staff,” he said. “I think those are some of the things that ultimately benefit us, and I think knowing that investment in an organization provides strength and stability lets people know that this organization is well positioned for the future.”