NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island Begins Construction of New, State-of-the-Art, Resilient, 11-Story Hospital Building and Campus Redesign
New building supports the public health system's broader, multi-year redesign to build a competitive, sustainable organization that will continue to offer high-quality and accessible health care to the people of New York City The new, elevated emergency room will be situated above the 500-year flood plain;
Renovations include a new flood wall and flood damage repairs from Superstorm Sandy This is the first new building to be constructed on the campus since 2006
Mar 21, 2019
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Herminia Palacio, NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz, and NYC Health+ Hospitals/Coney Island CEO William A. Brown today announced the construction of the new, state-of-the-art, flood resistant, 11-story tower building and emergency department at Health + Hospitals/Coney Island. The redevelopment is part of a major $922 million hospital campus renovation to demolish, replace and repair flood damaged buildings from Superstorm Sandy. The new hospital building, built on the north side of the hospital’s campus, is expected to open in early 2022; other parts of the campus renovation are expected to be completed spring 2023. Critical patient services will be located above the 500-year Floodplain. This project represents the first completely new building on the campus since 2006 and supports the public health system’s broader multi-year redesign to build a competitive, sustainable organization that will continue to offer high-quality and accessible health care to the people of New York City.
Click here to see the artistic renderings of the new Coney Island hospital building.
The campus renovation also features a new 350,000 square foot critical services tower that will house an elevated emergency room and vital medical and mechanical services, along with a new flood wall surrounding the campus. The new tower will incorporate services from the hospital’s main building, which had to be evacuated and closed for several months after Superstorm Sandy flood waters reached knee-high levels in the ground level emergency room. The new, resilient hospital campus will be able to offer continuous access to high-quality, comprehensive acute care, emergency services, primary care and specialty services to the Coney Island community.
“I am extremely excited about the groundbreaking of this new state-of-the-art, resilient facility for Coney Island Hospital,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor for Health Human Services. “This important renovation comes as the City ramps up its commitment to guarantee all New Yorkers access to quality healthcare regardless of who you are or where you come from. I thank Senator Schumer and Mayor de Blasio for their investment in protecting and improving our public hospitals, and for their commitment to the full recovery of Coney Island after Superstorm Sandy.”
“This is the hospital where my family got care when I was young, so I’m particularly proud to be part of this exciting new beginning,” said Mitchell Katz, MD, NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO. “We’re building a stronger, more resilient hospital that will endure future natural disasters and can provide uninterrupted service during severe storms. We are also renewing our commitment to excellence for the thousands of patients and families who rely on this essential health care facility and deserve nothing less than quality, compassionate care, in a new health and wellness campus.”
“NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island is the only full-service hospital for the 900,000 residents in all of southern Brooklyn. We also serve many patients from Staten Island and Queens. That makes us a critically important service provider,” said hospital CEO William A. Brown. “And while we’ve shored up the hospital’s facilities to prevent the devastation it experienced during Superstorm Sandy, the new building will allow for even greater preparedness in an amazingly beautiful, modern space that will also help us enhance patient and staff satisfaction.”
“NYCEDC is proud to support NYC Health + Hospitals in their design and construction efforts to build a new health care center in Coney Island,” said James Patchett, NYCEDC President and CEO. “The state-of-the-art facility will be constructed with sustainable materials and will be resilient to super storms, ensuring the community has reliable access to health care services for generations to come.”
“When it comes to emergency preparedness, nothing is more critical than making sure our hospitals are resilient enough to weather the strongest storms,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “I fought hard to deliver the money used to rebuild Coney Island Hospital from the damage it sustained during Superstorm Sandy because it is a critical source of healthcare for countless of my fellow Brooklynites. Now, HHC and Coney Island Hospital can begin constructing a new 11-story tower building and emergency department, fortifying infrastructure that was damaged by Sandy and providing patients with a state-of-the-art facility that they both need and deserve. New Yorkers should have access to the best hospital care in the world, and this infusion of federal dollars will go a long way toward achieving that here in Coney Island.”
“The Council is proud to have allocated over $4 million in capital funding for a brand new, state of the art, super-storm resilient Coney Island Hospital. Once complete, staff and residents of Southern Brooklyn can rest assured that the hospital will be able to withstand storm damage and will serve this community without long-term interruptions regardless of extreme weather. I want to thank my colleagues for their commitment to investing in our City’s public hospital system and to the City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation for their partnership in this effort,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
“Nearly seven years ago Brooklyn received a glimpse of what climate change would do to our coastline unless we strengthened our flood resiliency infrastructure,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. “This groundbreaking is long overdue and I look forward to working with Deputy Mayor Palacio, Dr. Katz, Coney Island Hospital CEO Brown, and the entire NYC Health + Hospitals team, toward the project’s completion in 2022 to ensure patients continue to receive the critical care they need during times of crisis.”
“This is an important step forward for Coney Island Hospital, one that will add much-needed storm resiliency and enhance the medical care that the hospital provides to many thousands of southern Brooklyn residents each year,” said Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn).
“Congratulations to the HHC/Coney Island Hospital team on their groundbreaking for a new, super-storm resilient redesign. Coney Island Hospital is a critical life line for individuals in the district, serving constituents on both sides of the bridge. I’m thrilled to see that in a mere few years, the Hospital will have the most state of the art features ensuring quality health care for all of our Coney Island, Brooklyn, and New York City neighbors,” said State Senator Diane J. Savino.
“Coney Island Community Hospital is an integral part of our community,” said State Senator Andrew Gounardes. “When the worst occurs, community hospitals play a leading role. They are where neighbors turn for help and where the pharmacy is able to provide access to medications when all other options are closed. Following severe damage from Superstorm Sandy, the future of Coney Island Community Hospital seemed unclear. Now, construction of the new, state-of-the-art, flood resistant tower building means a fresh start and that the light of a vital distributor of healthcare services will never go out again.”
“I am happy to see a new state of art health facility finally coming to south Brooklyn. The community has waited a long time, especially after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. It is reassuring to know that the community will now be able to receive the best health care possible in their own backyard,” said Assemblyman Peter Abbate, Jr.
“Coney Island Hospital serves such a large population of the Southern Brooklyn community, in addition to also providing care for our neighbors in Staten Island and Queens. Having a reliable place to seek medical care, especially in the event of a natural disaster is imperative. I look forward to further witnessing this new phase in the renovation process; with a special nod to the precautions that have been taken to ensure the hospital’s structural resiliency. Superstorm Sandy was not the first and it won’t be the last natural disaster that this community will endure. We must be prepared to protect our residents, and in this case vulnerable patients, from the damage that a future storm is sure to create,” said Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus.
“Coney Island Hospital is a critical part of Southern Brooklyn’s social safety net, and I am incredibly excited that work to improve the level of care here and safeguard this facility against future extreme weather events is under way. We came together to advocate for this FEMA grant because we know how much community members here rely on Coney Island Hospital, and this project goes a long way toward ensuring no storm knocks this integral facility out of operation again. I look forward to this project progressing with local workforce employment opportunities so local residents are active participants in another key step in our community’s recovery,” said Council Member Mark Treyger.
“Whether it’s at Bellevue or Coney Island, some of our city’s most critical healthcare providers are also in areas particularly vulnerable to disastrous sea level rise and the disastrous. I want to commend H+H for taking this important step at Health + Hospitals/Coney Island towards providing continuous quality care no matter what the environment throws our way,” said New York City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Hospitals. “I look forward to construction of this new flood resistant building and emergency department providing a model for how critical city infrastructure can continue to function in a city that will be radically altered by the effects of climate change.”
“This new, state-of-the-art facility, staffed by many of our members, will bring much-needed, 21st Century health care to the Coney Island community. And it ensures that providing such care will not be thwarted by conditions such as those we experienced during Hurricane Sandy,” said Henry Garrido, Executive Director, District Council 37.
“We are excited about and proud of our new hospital building for Coney Island Hospital. As a long time physician of Coney Island Hospital, I know this building will allow us to continue to provide the patient care services needed by our patients and communities served at Coney Island Hospital. This also represents not only our continued recovery from Hurricane Sandy but also being prepared for the next environmental challenge,” said Aycan Turkmen, M.D., 1st Vice President, Doctors Council.
“This addition to NYC H+H/Coney Island is an extremely outstanding effort and demonstrates our city’s commitment to public health and public hospitals. Building our public hospital system is among the most significant ways to address the disparities in our health system and to counter the social determinants of health. With this ground breaking we acknowledge the paramount importance of giving resources to our most vulnerable residents. Real safety net hospitals deserve our support in all ways, and a new public facility speaks volumes to that commitment,” said Judith Cutchin, RN, New York State Nurses Association and President of the Association’s NYC Health + Hospitals Mayorals Executive Council.
“We are excited that Coney Island Hospital is officially breaking ground on their newest addition to their facility. As an anchor institution providing significant healthcare services, the resiliency measures are critical to meeting the needs of the Coney Island community and all of South Brooklyn in the present and for the future,” said Alexandra Silversmith, Executive Director of the Alliance for Coney Island.
The new NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island hospital and campus renovation is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and will feature:
- A new critical services hospital tower with:
- A new Emergency Department – housed on the second floor of the critical services hospital tower, the new elevated Emergency Department, will feature an ambulance dock and vehicular drop-off with a ramp connecting to the ground level.
- Private patient rooms, including 80 acute care beds
- A surgical suite comprised of eight operating rooms
- Surgical prep and recovery areas including a 12-bay post anesthesia care unit (PACU)
- A full suite of diagnostic and imaging services including CT scan, MRI, and interventional radiology
- A labor and delivery suite
- An endoscopy suite
- 64 behavioral health beds
- A clinical laboratory equipped with the latest technology
- Mechanical services serving the new tower and campus will include flood resilient infrastructure for power, heating, cooling, and water systems.
- Demolition of old buildings – One building (known as “Building 6”) was already demolished to make way for the new construction. Building 6 was used for administrative functions, not clinical care, and administrative staff were relocated. The Hammett Pavilion, which now serves in inpatient and outpatient functions, will also be demolished. Inpatient services will be moved into the new tower, and the outpatient services will be moved into renovated space in the old building.
- A new four-foot concrete flood wall surrounding the perimeter of the campus. At the entrances there will passive lift gates.
- Improved campus parking for employees, patients, and visitors