# Albany Medical Center

Albany Medical Center is the only academic medical center serving northeastern New York and western New England. It is the anchor of the Albany Med Health System, a regionally-governed, not-for-profit health system consisting of Albany Medical Center, Albany Medical College, Columbia Memorial Health, Glens Falls Hospital, Saratoga Hospital, and the Visiting Nurses. Albany Medical Center awards the Albany Medical Center Prize, the second-highest value prize in medicine and biomedical research in the United States, annually. Within Albany Medical Center is the Bernard & Millie Duker Children's Hospital that treats infants, children, teens, and young adults throughout the region.

## History

In 1839, Dr. Alden March and Dr. James H. Armsby founded Albany Medical College in the former Lancaster School at the corner of Lancaster and Eagle Streets in the City of Albany. Albany Hospital was incorporated in 1849 and established two years later on the southwest corner of Dove Street and Lydius Street (now Madison Avenue). Physicians who taught in the medical school saw patients in the hospital, and students transitioned from lecture halls in the medical school to “shadowing” assignments on the floors of the hospital. The hospital, alongside Albany Medical College, established a radio station that took on the call letters WAMC in 1958; citing financial burdens, the college/hospital sold the radio station in 1981 to an independent entity, and is the primary member station of NPR for the Albany area. In April 2018, the nursing staff voted to unionize and voted to be represented by NYSNA.

### Weapons incident

On March 27, 2023, Albany Medical Center went into lockdown after a man entered the hospital with both a BB gun and a shotgun. The man, Dino Savocca, 61, was visiting his mother when he barricaded himself in the hospital, triggering a code silver and ordering all patients and staff to shelter in place. Savocca was apprehended hours later and arraigned the next day on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, kidnapping and menacing. While there were no casualties, hospital staff criticized the New York State Nurses Association for not seriously considering proposed safety measures.

## New York State Department of Health designations

* Regional Trauma Center
* Stroke Center
* Regional Perinatal Center
* AIDS Center

## Deaths

* William Wallace Farley (1874-1952)
* Arthur Shawcross (1945-2008), serial killer
* Ronald DeFeo Jr. (1951-2021), New York mass murderer who killed six members of his own family
* Treat Williams (1951-2023), actor

## Notable patients

* David Sweat was treated at Albany Medical Center from June 28 to July 4, 2015, after being shot by law enforcement following his escape from Clinton Correctional Facility.
* Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo was hospitalized following an accident involving the group's tour bus on the New York State Thruway in December 2009.

## Albany Medical College

Albany Medical College (AMC) is a medical school located in Albany, New York, United States. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of Albany Medical Center, which includes the Albany Medical Center Hospital.