ROCK HILL — The Center for Discovery (TCFD) has completed the first phase of a five million dollar Research Institute for Brain and Body Health in Rock Hill. TCFD administrators and staff members were joined last Friday by state and local officials to commemorate the milestone. 

Once complete, the Research Institute will benefit people with complex medical conditions through advancements in treatments, medicine and technology. 

“TCFD has always championed new ideas and new technology,” explained CEO Patrick Dollard. “With the completion of our Innovation Labs – the first labs within our Research Institute for Brain and Body Health – we are leveraging more than thirty years of leadership in assistive technology to better study and develop innovative solutions that can transform the lives of individuals with complex disabilities.”   

Dollard was joined by Hope Knight, Commissioner of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD), which provided a $1 million grant, recommended by the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.

“The complex conditions being studied here, from autism-spectrum disorders to alzheimer’s and dementia, affect so many New Yorkers,” said Knight. “The work being done here and the research that’s yet to come is truly game changing.” 

Formerly the site of Frontier Insurance, the 164,000-square-foot building sat vacant for years before the TCFD acquired the property in 2018. 

The Research Institute for Brain & Body Health, located on the second floor, is part of a broader adaptive reuse of the building which will also include the Children’s Specialty Hospital, which broke ground last year.

In addition to advancing research in the medical science fields, TCFD says the facility will become a statewide resource for clinical assessment and short-term care, thereby reducing the need for long-term residential care and saving millions in Medicaid costs.

Furthermore, TCFD says they intend to share new knowledge and best practices developed at the facility and “will establish an integrated research environment where no boundaries exist between science, medicine and application of clinical practice.”

Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, who chairs the state assembly’s mental health committee, praised the Center for Discovery for their “proactive and innovative approaches” in advancing the understanding and care for those with disabilities. 

“The new institute will continue to help create cutting-edge new treatments for people worldwide,” Gunther said. 

Town of Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber thanked those in attendance and spoke about what the project means not just for Rock Hill but for the many individuals and families affected by complex conditions, medical frailties and Autism Spectrum Disorders.

“Without financial partners such as Empire State Development and the USDA, this project most certainly would not have gone forward,” Rieber said.