Coney Island Hospital Steel Topping Off Ceremony
Dec 09, 2011
Officials autograph the final steel
beam before it is hoisted atop the
7500 square-foot expansion.
Less than one year after the official ground breaking, Coney Island Hospital Executive Director Arthur Wagner today marked a milestone in the construction phase of the $10 million Emergency Room expansion project with a Steel Topping Off ceremony. The project will expand the Emergency Department (ED) treatment space by 60 percent and will help connect emergency room patients to care faster. Wagner was joined by New York State Senator Martin Golden, NY State Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Sandra Chapman, City Council Members Michael Nelson and Lewis Fidler, and other community leaders.
Invited guests autographed the final steel beam, which bore an American flag. The ceremony observed the placement of the white beam, the last of 125 tons of structural steel used in the ED expansion’s steel skeleton, as it was hoisted by crane to its new home atop the 7500 square-foot expansion.
“The expansion project is moving ahead according to schedule,” said Arthur Wagner, Senior Network Vice President/ Executive Director, Coney Island Hospital. “This new expansion and upgrade will allow us to continue providing what this growing community needs and deserves – safe and effective emergency care with the latest technology.”
“I’m thrilled to see the progress on the expansion of Coney Island Hospital’s Emergency Department,” said Congressman Jerry Nadler. “This hospital and its terrific staff are indispensable for the health and well-being of southern Brooklyn, and I am so pleased to count myself among its friends and supporters. With this growth and progress in the form of concrete and steel, we are witnessing the continued investment in our community.”
The new addition to the existing 10,500 square-foot Emergency Department will provide additional treatment space to accommodate the nearly 6,000 adult and pediatric patients who visit one of the busiest emergency departments in Brooklyn each month.
“This milestone is another great step forward in expanding the Coney Island Hospital Emergency Room into a state-of-the art facility that will be a huge asset to the Brooklyn community,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Whenever a Brooklyn medical institution grows, so does our capacity for providing the quality health care Brooklynites need and deserve. And at a time when so many hospitals face closure, bravo to Coney Island Hospital for investing in the health and well-being of the patients they serve.”
In FY 2009, the department handled more than 72,000 patient visits. Over 80 percent of all patients hospitalized at Coney Island Hospital were admitted to the hospital through the Emergency Department. Monthly, an average of 76 patients are admitted directly to the hospital’s Intensive Care Units – a measurement of the high degree of acuity of the hospital’s patients.
“I’m excited to see the speed of the construction on Emergency Department expansion project,” said Dr. John Maese, Chief Medical Officer. “The progress reflects our dedication to the continuous improvement in the quality of care we deliver to our patients.”
“The many years of planning and designing of new Emergency Department are quickly becoming a reality,” said Dr. David Neckritz, Chair, Emergency Department. “We have all put in a lot of hard work to enable us to better serve the community’s emergency medical care needs.”
The ED will continue to remain open 24-hours a day during construction and provide emergency medical, surgical, trauma, and psychiatric assessment, evaluation and treatment for acutely ill adult and pediatric patients.
Expected to be completed by the end of 2012, the Emergency Department will have:
- 3 Triage rooms for faster front-access flow
- 21 Treatment/Exam Rooms with cardiac/pulmonary monitoring capability
- 10 dedicated Adult Critical Care/Trauma bays adjacent to the ambulance bay
- 15 Rapid Care exam rooms for those patients who only require minimal treatment
- 2 airborne isolation rooms
- An external emergency decontamination facility
About Coney Island Hospital
From its earliest beginnings in 1875 as a first-aid station for summer beach goers, Coney Island Hospital has grown into a multi-site community medical center with 371 beds. Part of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), Coney Island Hospital is a designated Stroke Center and provides over 301,000 clinic visits and 70,000 Emergency Room visits to the communities of southern Brooklyn. For more information, visit www.coneyislandhospital.com.
About HHC
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a $6.7 billion integrated healthcare delivery system with its own 420,000 member health plan, MetroPlusHealth, and is the largest municipal healthcare organization in the country. HHC serves 1.4 million New Yorkers every year and more than 475,000 are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, five skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 70 community based clinics. HHC Health and Home Care also provides in-home services for New Yorkers. HHC was the 2008 recipient of the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission’s John M. Eisenberg Award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality. For more information, visit www.nychhc.org/hhc or find us on facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or twitter.com/NYCHealthSystem.