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Grand Opening of Hilton Garden Inn at Albany Medical Center

The $20 million facility is situated at the corner of New Scotland and Holland Avenues on Albany Medical Center property in conjunction with the BBL Group. The new hotel is adjacent to the Medical Center?s above-ground parking garage and connects directly to the Albany Medical Center Hospital lobby through a climate-controlled above-ground crosswalk.

?The Hilton Garden Inn is a great complement to the educational and healthcare missions of the Albany Medical Center and its neighboring institutions within the University Heights section of Albany,? said Karen Whitman, Hilton vice president.
?Because of the shared vision and supportive partnering of both the BBL Group and Hilton on this project, the Albany Medical Center now joins a growing number of academic health sciences centers throughout the nation in having a first-class hotel right on campus,? stated James. J. Barba, the Albany Medical Center?s president and chief executive officer.

?This attractive and outstanding facility will provide many of our patients, their family members and friends from a 24-county radius of northeastern New York and western New England with a convenient and attractive respite while they are here in Albany. Similarly, it will provide the same outstanding range of amenities to visiting professors, prospective students, job applicants, vendors and other visitors to not just Albany Medical Center but to any one of our neighboring University Heights institutions.?

Mr. Barba pointed out that the facility is a direct result of the substantial growth of the Albany Medical Center?s programs and services in recent years. In the last 5 years, admissions to the Albany Medical Center Hospital have grown by more than 25 percent, from 24,500 to 30,000 and transfers from other hospitals in the region to Albany Medical center are up by more than 80 percent.
Donald LedDuke, owner of BBL Construction Services, LLC, said ?It was a total team effort between the Albany Medical Center, the city and the entire design-build team that made this project a wonderful success.?

The University Heights is an area of Albany that includes the Albany College of Pharmacy, the Albany Law School, Sage Colleges, the state Wadsworth Center, and the Center for Medical Science, also known as the Ordway Institute, as well as the Albany Medical College and the Albany Medical Center Hospital.

The hotel also includes a business center, 2,500 square feet of meeting space, an indoor pool and spa, fitness center, high-definition TVs and wireless high-speed Internet available in all rooms, and a Key Bank and retail shops on the ground floor including Starbucks and the Recovery Room Sports Grill.

At the grand opening, officials led attendees on guided tours of the new facility including a demonstration of a new echocardiography system for pediatric patients that was funded, in part, by a $135,000 donation to the Medical Center from the BBL Group. Attendees of the grand opening also contributed donations and purchased silent auction items to benefit the Children?s Hospital at the Albany Medical Center.

Food from area restaurants including Angelos? 677 Prime, Cousin?s Fish Market, DeJohn?s/Justin?s, Franklin?s Tower, Glen Sanders Catering, Jack?s Oyster House, Milano?s, Noche Lounge, Provence and the Recovery Room Sports Grill was served at the festive affair.

Additional information can be found at Hilton Garden Inn at Albany Medical Center.