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Highland Hospital’s three-year emergency department expansion plan has sparked concerns among southeast Rochester residents about potential disruptions to daily life.
At a recent special NBN6 Coalition meeting, roughly 30 people gathered to hear Highland Hospital staff present plans for a six-story addition to the hospital’s emergency department. NBN6 includes the Azalea, Highland Park, Lilac Neighbors, South Wedge, Swillburg, and Upper Mount Hope neighborhoods.
The hospital expansion would upgrade clinical equipment and include the additions of three emergency observation beds, two express care beds, 21 waiting room seats, and three treatment rooms.
“In terms of regional impact, all of our hospitals in the community are continuing to be stressed with the volumes that are coming through … like we haven’t seen before,” said Maura Snyder, Highland Hospital’s chief operating officer. “Year over year, we’re seeing that volume grow across all of our teams in the region, as well as nationally.”
Highland Hospital’s ED sees more than 40,000 patients annually. At the moment, the hospital has no plans to expand its 261-bed count, but the expansion would allow for additional space for the waiting area and treatment space.
“We really want to create that experience for patients and their loved ones so that you’re not sitting on top of each other,” said Snyder.
The focus is on moving to single-occupancy rooms. The hospital plans to upgrade electrical work at the same time. At the moment, the design would not require any zoning variances, unlike past projects at Highland. The project would be situated on the hospital campus and would resemble the appearance of the Southeast 4 Tower, which is set to begin construction in September.
“It’s not just that Strong and Highland are growing in volume. Rochester Regional and Unity are growing, too. A lot of it (is the) aging population and people live longer with diagnoses like cancer and cardiac disease, which means they live on hospitalizations or ED visits to have those diseases managed,” said Snyder. “We are seeing an explosion in the number of patients using Highland.”
The project accounts for future renovations to reduce impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Some residents, however, are not convinced.
“We lived through the last renovation. You said something about how you wanted to do it one time and not have to do it again. Well, you did it one time. And you kind of lost my trust there because you already have to do it again,” said one community member who recounted issues with past construction.
Concerns over garbage collection routes and increased traffic dominated the public comment session. Other issues, such as the vibrational impact of drilling, which some said caused cracks in homes during previous projects, were also brought up.
Highland officials assured the audience that the hospital would attempt to minimize vibration impact using what they’ve learned from past projects and studies, including the use of different equipment.
Another community resident recalled the remedial construction required for his house after previous renovations to the ED.
“It took me five years to set that concrete after the project. It was settled, and that’s fine. But my sense is (that) your three-year project became an eight-year project to me. And that’s my living space,” he recounted.
“It’s the fact that again this is a business, and you’re building that to support the community,” he added. “There’s a boundary. You have to be honest with us about what’s going to happen. We live here, you work here.”
Bidding on the expansion is planned to begin in January, with construction slated to begin in November 2026.
Emmely Eli Texcucano is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.
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