Mohawk Valley Health System members and area officials are planning to build a new hospital in downtown Utica. It's an idea that hasn't sat well with several city and county residents.
"Why on earth would we want to come downtown, level blocks of our downtown, steal properties through eminent domain, then come back against those property owners to remediate those properties without indemnifying them for the cost of those?" asked Jim Brock, No Hospital Downtown's co-founder.
Those are just some of their concerns. It's pretty self-explanatory: No Hospital Downtown group members don't want a hospital downtown, and now they're forming a political party to help their case.
"If you share our love for the city of Utica and the saving of our downtown, a third of it from the bulldozers, then we want you on our party," Brock said.
Party members believe state funding could be used at St. Luke's current campus, but Mohawk Valley Health System officials said that's not the case.
In a statement on the new party, Mohawk Valley Health System President/CEO Scott Perra said, "We believe that downtown Utica is the best place to construct the health care campus, and will continue to work on the planning and design of the state of the art facility that will transform healthcare in the region for generations to come."
Some of the party members include Utica Common Council candidates James Zecca, Lou Poccia and Allen Thayer, as well as Oneida County Legislature candidate Frank Gentile.