As a part of its overall financing plan for the project, Kaleida Health anticipates $50 million in investment through EB-5 New York State in Buffalo (EB-5 NYS) will help fund the purchase of equipment for the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, and its adjacent ambulatory care clinics, now under construction on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) approved the use of EB-5 capital for the project, thereby currently allowing 100 individuals who are overseas investors, to each make a $500,000 investment in the job-creating project. EB-5 NYS expects to raise the $50 million between now and the end of the year.
“We are really pleased that the U.S. government approved the Oishei Children’s Hospital project as meeting the requirements of the EB-5 program,” said William Gresser, president and CEO of EB-5 NYS. “With that approval, we intend to secure a substantial amount of funding to support the financing efforts of our partners at Kaleida Health. We have worked with Kaleida Health for several years planning this project, which is generating a large number of local construction jobs.”
The new Oishei Children’s Hospital project will right-size and consolidate services from Women & Children’s Hospital on Bryant Street, into a 12-floor, 183-bed, free-standing, modern and patient-centered facility. The $270 million hospital will be an integral part of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, linking with Buffalo General Medical Center, the Gates Vascular Institute, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the new University at Buffalo Medical School and more.
As Jonathan Swiatkowski, Kaleida’s chief financial officer noted, “Kaleida Health used EB-5 financing successfully to help finance equipment within the Gates Vascular Institute, and we are excited to use the EB-5 program again to further enhance the care we provide to the moms and children in our community. Using the EB-5 program provides Kaleida Health with substantial financial and non-financial benefits, and is therefore helping us advance our mission for all the residents of Western New York.”
Congress created the EB-5 program in the 1990’s to incentivize foreign people to invest into job creating projects in the U.S. The U.S. government determined that the Oishei Children’s Hospital is an appropriate EB-5 project because of the large number of jobs which will be created by its development. Foreign investors are eligible to earn a green card for themselves, their spouse and minor children if after extensive review the U.S. government determines they and their investment meet the program’s stringent requirements, and at least 10 new U.S. jobs are proven to have been created for each investor.
Oishei Children’s Hospital is the second Kaleida Health project which EB-5 NYS has helped finance with EB-5 capital. EB-5 NYS first worked with Kaleida Health on the Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) which is completed; it is meeting the EB-5 program and job creation requirements, and is repaying the overseas investors.
“We are extremely proud to be able to use the EB-5 program for the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, and in so doing, the EB-5 program is again helping Kaleida Health and the Medical Campus fulfill their missions for the betterment of the Buffalo Niagara community,” Gresser said.