About Us

Achievements & Awards

By combining the resources of Albany Medical College and the Hospital, Albany Medical Center provides an extensive range of specialty and subspecialty programs and it serves as the major referral center for the area's 3.5 million residents.

Achievements and Awards

Albany Med Again Receives Stroke Center Certification from Joint Commission

• Albany Medical Center has earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for being a JCAHO accredited institution with an advanced certification in stroke care. The Medical Center is one of only 13 health care institutions in New York State to hold this distinction.
• The Joint Commissions Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care. Achievement of certification signifies that the services provided by the health care institution have critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes.

Albany Med Named National Consumer Choice Award Winner

• Albany Medical Center is the only hospital in northeastern New York to be honored with a Consumer Choice Award based on a recent survey of consumers conducted by the National Research Corporation (NRC). This is the 12th consecutive year that Albany Medical Center has received this distinction.

• Albany Med is the only hospital in northeastern New York to be named a 2006/2007 Consumer Choice Award winner by the National Research Corporation for having the highest quality and image in 180 markets throughout the US.
• The Business Review named Albany Med one of the Capital Region's "Great Places to Work" for the fourth year in row.
• Albany Med was listed among a group of 25 health care organizations named "Most Improved" in information technology, according to the American Hospital Association's (AHA) 2007 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study.
• Albany Med was one of only three hospitals in the nation to be recognized by the American Heart/Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines program for performance achievement in stroke, coronary artery disease and heart failure.
• According to the NYS Department of Health, Albany Med had the fewest mortalities for surgery performed on infants and children with congenital heart defects from 2002-2005.
• Albany Med's Epilepsy Program became one of just six state programs to earn the National Association of Epilepsy Centers prestigious Level 4 designation.  
• Albany Medical Center received HANY's Pinnacle Award for Quality and Patient Safety-the organization's highest honor.

New Programs and Medical Firsts.

• Albany Med's Stroke program is the first in the region to receive dual certification by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and designation as a State Stroke Center by the NYS Department of Health.
• Stroke team first to introduce clot-busting MERCI device that can extend the treatment window for stroke by up to three hours.
• First to Install Defibrillators Hospital-wide.
• First to perform revolutionary X STOP artificial spinal disc surgery.
• Robotic Surgery - Surgeons in the Division of Urology are performing the da Vinci Prostatectomy using a robotic arm to remove the prostate gland without a major incision.  Additionally, Albany Med successfully performed the region's first robotic gastric bypass surgery. 
• Albany Med now has the only operative/endovascular suite in the region-offering a high-tech and potentially lifesaving option for patients in need. 

Medical Breakthroughs and Research

• Cardiovascular researchers at Albany Medical College discover a compound that shows early promise in breast cancer treatment.
• The Alzheimer's Center at Albany Med takes part in $60 million nationwide initiative to treat and cure Alzheimer's.
• Albany Medical College receives a $150,000 five-year award to host tularemia conferences.
• A $1.8 million grant awarded by the NIH to Peter Vincent, PhD, will allow Albany Med researchers to explore the barrier function of blood vessels that could one day lead to preventing atherosclerosis, severe respiratory distress in trauma victims and even tumor growth in some cancer patients.
• The American Cancer Society awarded Jihe Zhao, MD, PhD, $720,000 to study the biological differences between cancerous and normal ovarian cells.
• Albany Med recieved $1.8 million, 5-year research grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) for continued support of Dr. Metzger's research of a more effective approach for vaccination against bacterial and viral diseases.
• One of the largest grants awarded to an individual investigatior by NIAID went to James Drake, Ph.D. He recieved a $1.96 million, 5-year grant focuses on the role of cellular pathways in fighting infection with an eye toward development of better vaccines.
• Dr. Carlos de Noronha, Sc.D., receives a $1.4 million, 4-year grant from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study a key protein found in HIV patients.
• Dr. Dorina Avram has recieved  $2.9 million in federal grants to continue  her research into leukemia and other autoimmune diseases.  

  Achievements

• Degrees awarded to 199 students in the 170th commencement ceremony: 134 received medical degrees, 14 received master of science degrees in nurse anesthesiology, 32 received master of science degrees in physician assistant studies, and 18 received either master of science or doctoral degrees in the biomedical sciences. In addition, one student received a master’s degree from the Alden March Bioethics Institute.