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General University News
STONY BROOK, N.Y., June 30, 2010 – Stony Brook University Medical Center today launched Stony Brook Long Island Children's Hospital, a clinical, academic, and financial commitment to the development of a unique regional resource dedicated to delivering expanded, specialty and tertiary healthcare needs of children and adolescents in Suffolk County.
"Nothing is more important than the health and welfare of our children," said Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., M.D., President of Stony Brook University. "Today Stony Brook University Medical Center takes an important first step in making the dream of a Children's Hospital for our region a reality." Simultaneous with the launch announcement, the organization received associate membership status in the prestigious National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI - see related story). NACHRI promotes the health and well-being of all children and their families through support of children's hospitals and health systems that are committed to excellence in providing health care to children. "Stony Brook Children’s will build on our strong foundation in pediatric services and will be dedicated to help accommodate the unmet healthcare needs of the children in this region," said Steven L. Strongwater, M.D., SBUH chief executive officer. "As Long Island’s only university-based research hospital, we are uniquely positioned to provide this comprehensive care dedicated to the community's youngest patients and their families while leading the way to new knowledge in children’s health. When this project is complete, we will have invested some $80 million in facilities, recruitment and programs," he added. "This is the most important cause any of us could possibly undertake today, protecting the health and safety our children with a healthcare facility second-to-none in the region," said John Tsunis, Chairman of Gold Coast Bank and chair of the Children’s Hospital Task Force. "I applaud any initiative designed to improve the health status of New Yorkers -- especially that of our children," said Richard Daines, M.D., Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health.
Initially, Stony Brook Children’s will be located within Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) as plans are developed for a free-standing facility in the future. Leading Stony Brook Children's as Physician-in-Chief is Margaret M. McGovern, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics. Dr. McGovern will continue as Chairman of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine. "With Suffolk’s high incidence of chronic childhood illnesses such as asthma, and with young accident victims and low birth weight infants, there is a driving need for a children’s hospital here," said Dr. McGovern. "We will offer the best practices in diagnosis and healing. It will be a destination for doctors, nurses and researchers who are continually seeking new ways of treating persistent – and emerging – threats to children’s health. "At the core of Stony Brook Children’s is our mission to further enhance
"Stony Brook Children's again demonstrates our unwavering commitment to delivering the very best academic medicine can offer, compassionate, cutting-edge medical care, to our youngest patients," said Kenneth Kaushansky, M.D., incoming School of Medicine Dean and Sr. Vice President for Health Sciences. "This step also expands our investment in the health of all, by advancing the training of pediatricians and pediatric specialists for Suffolk County, Long Island, all of New York and beyond.” Stony Brook Children's currently operates 100 pediatric beds with a faculty of more than 100 pediatric providers in 30 different specialties and more than 200 voluntary pediatric faculty members. More than 7,000 children and adolescents are admitted to Stony Brook Children's each year and in 2009 the hospital provided primary pediatric care services to more than 50,000 children with Medicaid coverage. Next year, Stony Brook Children's will complete the construction of the most advanced Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in New York State, adding to its existing specialized children’s services, including the Regional Perinatal Center, the National Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center, the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program, the Pediatric Cardiology Program, Pediatric HIV and AIDS Center, Cystic Fibrosis Center and the Cody Center for Autism and Development Disabilities. Stony Brook Children's represents a forceful response by the medical center to an increasing national trend within pediatric medicine in the severity of childhood illness, prevalence of chronic conditions and survivorship of care. This hospital will be able to serve the needs of the children of Suffolk County as a community hospital for local residents, a tertiary hospital for complex, chronic or congenital conditions and a safety net hospital for those who are underinsured or uninsured. Web site: www.stonybrookchildrens.org About Stony Brook University © Copyright 2012 by Stony Brook University |
