Dell and UB

“It opens up new opportunities and creates the kind of jobs that are needed here in Buffalo and across the United States.” Michael Dell, Dell Inc.When Michael Dell, president and CEO of Dell, announced in November his company was making a $15 million investment in computer equipment and services to support the launch of UB’s new Institute for Healthcare Informatics, it truly was a leap forward for innovation in Buffalo/Niagara. It is something former UB President John Simpson had been talking about for some time now.  “This is truly an exciting and critically important development for the City of Buffalo, the  University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC),” said Mayor Brown. Brown continued, “Investing in the knowledge-based economy, which has been made possible through the continuing growth and success of the BNMC, is precisely what will continue job creation and new opportunities for new initiatives like the UB Institute for Healthcare Informatics. I am thrilled that Michael Dell has confirmed the viability and benefit of this venture by making such a strong commitment to its success.”

     Assembly Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who was instrumental in securing the $20 million HEAL NY grant, said the new UB Institute for Healthcare Informatics is a promising addition to the BNMC. “It will create new jobs and educational opportunities in medical records management for residents of Buffalo's East Side, including residents near Sheehan Hospital and the Erie County Medical Center," she said. Erie Community College plans to expand its associate's degree program in medical informatics to feed UB and local industry. UB's Educational Opportunity Center is offering training and education programs targeted to entry-level medical records management jobs.”

     Dell's investment is critical to the creation of UB's Institute for
Healthcare Informatics and establishing it on the Roosevelt Building's first floor. The 15,000-square-foot space will be renovated to accommodate Dell's high-powered computers and 100 employees from UB, Dell, Buffalo-based technology company CTG, and UB Associates, and the management service organization supporting the 450 physicians in the UBMD medical practice plans.  The project has the potential to create approximately 115 new high-paying jobs in computer programming and data analysis, and new entry-level positions in medical records management.
“Innovation, I think, is what will define the economy of the future. We are past the days when we can have an economy based on our geography, where the natural resources we have available to us are used in manufacturing.” John Simpson, UB      Medical informatics is an emerging health care field centered on using information technology to analyze and share patient information among health care practitioners and across health care institutions. Such analysis leads to better monitoring of patient care, enhanced measures to prevent disease and identification of more-effective treatments, which leads to better patient outcomes and reduced medical costs.  Creation of the UB Institute for Healthcare Informatics will help establish UB and the Buffalo region as a major hub for medical informatics in the SUNY system, throughout New York State and beyond.!