SYRACUSE -- Cupcakes, funny hats and noisemakers were the order for the day at Upstate University Hospital's Golisano Children's Hospital Thursday morning.

The $150 million facility is celebrating its one year anniversary with a birthday party for the pediatric patients who are receiving treatment at the hospital. The party also featured visits by Lulu Lollipop the clown and Daphne the Therapy Dog.

The party had a more serious side however. Upstate President David Smith tells CNY Central that since the Golisano Children's Hospital opened a year ago, pediatric admissions rose 39 percent. The number of pediatric cases increased to 4,150, up from 2,984 last year.

Smith says the facility is also reversing the shortage of pediatric specialists in Upstate New York. He says the Golisano Children's Hospital has helped Upstate to recruit a pulmonologist and two pediatric surgeons who joined the medical staff this month.

Because Upstate is also a teaching hospital, Smith says the facility allows the university to train "home grown" pediatric specialists who will live and work in the Syracuse area.