The Albany Med Health System was created with a clear purpose: to bring together exceptional organizations into one academic health system capable of delivering the highest quality care—consistently, seamlessly, and close to home.
That work is well underway. Across our hospitals, clinics, and community settings, we are increasingly operating as one system—expanding access, connecting patients to the right care at the right time, and elevating standards across every setting. What began as a collection of strong institutions is becoming a more coordinated, higher-performing system—one that delivers greater value and impact for the communities we serve.
The System Annual Report highlights some of the incredible work underway as we embark on one of the most ambitious times of our history—First Choice 2030.
Areas of Distinction
The Albany Med Health System is the region’s only academic health system, caring for the most complex and high-risk patients. But
what sets the System apart is not just the level of care provided. It’s the team that makes that care possible and their dedication to leading the way in providing highest quality and accessible care, now and into the future. It’s the System’s structure that ensures consistency of clinical excellence in all settings. It’s the drive for innovation and the latest technology to shape the future of health care.
Being an academic medical system—the only in northeastern New York and western New England—elevates patient care, quality, and clinical excellence.
The System cares for the most complex and high-risk patients—cases other hospitals are not equipped to manage. The breadth and depth of providers’ expertise means patients can receive high-quality care close to home, with seamless connection to advanced or complex care.
The next generation of health care providers train here. The faculty physicians seek and implement leading-edge techniques and treatments. Residents, fellows, and medical students are key participants in care teams, as are the nurses and allied health professionals educated on System campuses, enhancing the patient experience. The research done here improves how medicine is practiced. Clinical care and academic medicine work hand in hand across service lines, supporting clinical research, discovery science, and innovation—and bringing new developments to patient care.
From the most complex surgeries for brain tumors, to the latest technology to identify and treat stroke, to groundbreaking research on Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, the System is renowned for a tradition of excellence in the neurosciences.
Comprising neurology and neurosurgery, the System’s neurosciences program embraces cross-departmental collaboration to provide the most advanced care.
The System offers some of the most advanced neurosurgical and minimally invasive procedures available.
Neurosurgical expertise: endovascular stroke care, pediatric neurosurgery, functional neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, trauma neurosurgery, cranial base surgery, spine surgery
Neurological expertise: epilepsy, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), neuropathy, pain management, multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular diseases, dementias and neurodegenerative disorders
• Albany Medical Center is a DNV-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center
• Albany Medical Center’s and Glens Falls Hospital’s Centers of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease
• Albany Medical Center is a Huntington’s Disease Society of America Level 2 Center of Excellence
• Albany Medical Center’s adult Epilepsy Program is a National Association of Epilepsy Centers Level 4
The Albany Med Health System provides the most complete heart and vascular care in the Capital Region, including diagnostics, advanced surgery, and the latest minimally invasive technology to address routine and complex medical issues.
A transformation of Columbia Memorial Health’s Greene Medical Arts facility, expected to be completed by late 2026 to early 2027, will feature a Cardiac Care Center for same-day evaluations and offer patients enhanced access to the System’s array of services.
Meanwhile, north of Albany, patients can also receive heart care at Glens Falls Hospital and Saratoga Hospital. Patients who require a higher level of care have direct access to services provided at Albany Medical Center.
The Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center is the region’s only children’s hospital. With 130 beds, this hospital-within-a-hospital is devoted exclusively to the unique medical needs of infants, children, and adolescents.
The referral center for all seriously sick and injured children across 25 counties in upstate New York and western New England, the Children’s Hospital provides high-quality, personalized care close to home.
• The Massry Family Children’s Emergency Center, the region’s only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center and only pediatric emergency department
▸ 25,000 visits annually
▸ Pediatric ambulance
• The Cove, a specifically designed, secure unit for pediatric behavioral health patients awaiting psychiatric evaluation and inpatient placement
• The Melodies Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders
▸ Region’s only childhood cancer and blood disorder treatment center
▸ Treating more than 1,500 children each year
▸ 40+ pediatric cancer studies through the National Cancer Institute and Children’s Oncology Group, working to find the most advanced treatments and clinical trials
• Highest level (IV) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for premature and critically ill newborns
• The region’s only Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
A cancer diagnosis is devastating. The Albany Med Health System team is committed to guiding every patient through their journey, with compassion.
The System offers a true multidisciplinary approach to cancer care—from diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical and pediatric oncology in Albany to the innovative programs of C.R. Wood Cancer Center in Glens Falls and Saratoga—bringing clinical excellence and renowned support to patients across the region.
Our specialists collaborate to determine the best possible, personalized path forward for every patient.
With approximately 40 national clinical studies available for treatment, quality of life, and prevention, patients have access to leading-edge therapies while also contributing to the progress being made in the field of oncology.
The team:
▸ Leading oncologists
▸ Nurse navigators
▸ Health psychologists
▸ Mental health counselors
▸ Oncology nutritionists
▸ Rehabilitation specialists
▸ Pharmacists
▸ Genetic counselors
▸ Spiritual care
Surgery in the Albany Med Health System is centered around the patient—and no one does more in northeastern New York.
Our surgeons offer routine care and the most complex operations necessary befitting a Level 1 Trauma Center, as well as routine elective surgical procedures. Robotic surgery is led by surgeons and enhanced with technology that enables surgeons to perform delicate and complex operations through a few small incisions with the assistance of highly technical robotic arms. These robotic procedures most often result in shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, minimized scarring, and faster recovery times.
Pediatric Surgery
At the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital, we have the technology and equipment to perform advanced surgical techniques to treat a wide range of conditions and illnesses.
In addition to pediatric general surgery, we have specialty trained surgeons in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology surgery, plastic surgery, and surgical oncology. Our team has special training and extensive experience in a wide range of procedures from trauma surgery to repairing complex birth defects and numerous elective surgical procedures.
In the Albany Med Health System, each campus is a pillar of its community. Each plays a distinct, valued role in delivering the highest standards of patient care, clinical excellence, education, and community leadership. Working together as a System extends the collective impact far beyond what any one organization could achieve alone.
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First Choice for Children: The Bernard & Millie Duker Children's Hospital features a Congenital Heart Program led by Dr. Neil Devejian, one of New York's top congenital heart surgeons, with more than two decades of experience treating the most complex cases. -
First Choice - Better Together: The System was formed to bring health care providers across the region together to coordinate and elevate care for everyone—building on each other’s expertise and advantages, and bolstering areas through shared resources. -
First Choice for High-Quality Care: Regardless of where a patient starts their journey, the System is committed to ensuring every patient receives the right care at the right time at the right place. -
First Choice for Academic Excellence: More than 40 percent of local health care professionals trained at Albany Medical College -
First Choice for People and Purpose: The System relies on a team of more than 17,000 employees to provide the best patient experience, quality, and clinical excellence. -
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