Renovation and Expansion of Emergency Department Announced
06/04/2009
-- Updates Will Address Increases In Patient Traffic By Improving Patient Flow For More Efficient Care --
-- Hospital Has Long, Storied History of Responding to Emergencies In Its Community --
Contact: Michael Fagan
(212) 604-7965
New York, NY, April 15, 2009 - St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan began a phased renovation and expansion of its emergency department (ED) this week. The goal of the project is to expand the hospital's ability to deal with significant increases in ED patient visits seen in recent years. The ED will remain fully operational throughout the 14-16 months it will take to complete the renovations.
'Despite plans for a new St. Vincent's, we must undertake this expansion and renovation now to better serve the increased number of patients coming to the emergency room in the years before the new hospital will be completed,' said Henry Amoroso, President and CEO of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers. 'The current ED was designed to handle 45,000 patient visits a year. But between the closing of two nearby hospitals in recent years and the ongoing growth of the communities we serve, we saw more than 64,000 ED visits in 2008. The renovated emergency department will ensure that we can efficiently and comfortably attend to the tens of thousands of patients who come to our emergency room for care each year.'
When completed, the treatment areas in the ED will grow by approximately 20%, including three new dedicated resuscitation bays strategically located for rapid ambulance access, a new upgraded pediatric section, and a new dedicated psychiatric treatment area. The renovated ED will feature a centralized nursing and physician station with 360° visibility, as well as expanded and renovated waiting, triage, and registration areas for patients and their families. Patient privacy and patient flow will be enhanced.
'We are very grateful to all of the generous supporters who are helping to make the improvements in the emergency department possible,' stated Alfred E. Smith, IV, Saint Vincent's Board Chairman. 'As the only trauma center on the West Side below 114th
Street, St. Vincent's emergency department is a vital resource for our neighborhood and the City.'
St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan has been involved in the provision of emergency medicine almost since its inception in 1849. Over nearly 160 years, St. Vincent's emergency physicians, nurses and paramedics have been on the front lines of many of our City's natural and man-made disasters. They have provided the highest quality of care for the survivors of the Titanic, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and both attacks on the World Trade Center, including treating more than 800 victims from September 11th.
Due to careful planning and staging of the renovation, St. Vincent's Level 1 Trauma Center will remain fully operational throughout the renovation. The project builds on the creation of the Fast Track Center in 2006 that triages less critically ill patients to an area where they can be quickly treated for such conditions as broken bones and cuts requiring stitches. St. Vincent's is also a New York State Department of Health designated Stroke Center with the emergency department often as the first point of entry. The renovation and expansion project is being funded through the generosity of donors.
About Saint Vincent's
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent's) is anchored by St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, an academic medical center located in Greenwich Village and the only emergency room on the Westside of Manhattan from Midtown to Tribeca, St. Vincent's Westchester, a behavioral health hospital in Westchester County, and continuing care services that include two skilled nursing facilities in Brooklyn, another on Staten Island, a hospice, and a home health agency serving the Metropolitan New York area. Its behavioral health services also provide supportive housing programs for people with mental illness throughout the Metropolitan area. Saint Vincent's is the designated provider for the New York and New Jersey region of the US Family Health Plan sponsored by the US Department of Defense.
Saint Vincent's serves as the academic medical center of New York Medical College in New York City. The healthcare organization is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn and the president of the Sisters of Charity of New York.
