Stony Brook Children’s To Open First All-Private-Room NICU In NY And Adjacent State-Of-The-Art- Labor & Delivery Suite
Public grand opening of new facilities slated for Aug. 2
STONY BROOK, N.Y.
, July 18, 2011 – On Tuesday, Aug. 2, Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital will hold a grand opening ceremony for its new Labor & Delivery Suite and New York State’s first all-private-room Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The public is invited to attend the event, starting at 2 p.m. in the main lobby at Stony Brook University Medical Center.
The opening of these new facilities will consolidate all mother and baby services at Stony Brook Children’s into one convenient location. They will provide a more family-focused environment with greater privacy, security and a quieter healing environment to benefit patients.
“These new facilities mark our continued progress towards developing Stony Brook Children’s as the first and only children’s hospital in Suffolk County,” said Margaret McGovern, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Stony Brook University School of Medicine and Physician-In-Chief for Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital. “The NICU is an innovative facility with the latest equipment and technology, ensuring that our babies have access to the most sophisticated care available.”
The new NICU will increase the number of beds from 40 to 46, with more than twice the amount of clinical space compared to the existing unit. The Level III NICU serves more than 1,000 patients annually and is a regional referral center for high-risk births and babies born prematurely or with complications.
The new Labor & Delivery Suite will be located adjacent to the new NICU and will provide 10 new Labor & Delivery rooms, each with a private bath and pull-out couch to allow two adults to stay in the room around the clock. Also included are three new operating rooms, two holding rooms for pre-operative procedures, a two-room recovery suite and six recovery spaces for post-operative patients.
“The new Labor & Delivery Suite will provide a soothing environment to promote healing for our patients,” said J. Gerald Quirk, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Regional Perinatal Center. “It will bring greater convenience to mothers and families and supports more efficient delivery of care to better meet patient and family needs. This environment fosters the philosophy of family centeredness, facilitating parent-infant bonding, parent education and earlier initiation of breastfeeding.”
The new facilities are located adjacent to the Newborn Nursery and the 48-bed Women and Infants Unit, which opened in 2009 and consists of 12 antepartum and 36 postpartum beds. With the opening of the NICU and Labor & Delivery Suite, all women and infant services at Stony Brook Children’s will be consolidated off the main hospital lobby.
“The new Labor & Delivery Suite will provide a soothing environment to promote healing for our patients,” said J. Gerald Quirk, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Regional Perinatal Center. “It will bring greater convenience to mothers and families and supports more efficient delivery of care to better meet patient and family needs.”
The new facilities are located adjacent to the 48-bed Women and Infants Unit, which opened in 2009 and consists of 12 antepartum and 36 postpartum beds. With the opening of the NICU and Labor & Delivery Suite, all women and infant services at Stony Brook Children’s will be consolidated in a single convenient location off the main hospital lobby.
More than 4,000 babies are born annually at Stony Brook Children’s – the highest number of births of any hospital in Suffolk County. The hospital serves as the only Level 4 (most advanced) Regional Perinatal Center in Suffolk County and has one of the largest maternal-fetal medicine programs in the county.
“This grand opening marks the exciting culmination of the first anniversary of announcing Stony Brook Children’s as Suffolk County’s first and only children’s hospital,” said Steven L. Strongwater, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Hospital. “In the past year alone, we have opened a dedicated Pediatric Emergency Department, recruited 10 additional board-certified physicians, and initiated groundbreaking research studies on such topics as protecting children’s hearts, treatment for tuberculosis, pediatric cancer and infectious diseases.”
Stony Brook Children’s became a member of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Relations Institutions (NACHRI) in 2010. The hospital operates 100 pediatric beds with more than 100 full-time pediatric physicians and surgeons and more than 200 voluntary pediatric faculty members in 30 different specialties.
ABOUT STONY BROOK LONG ISLAND CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
Established in June 2010, Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital is Suffolk County’s only children’s hospital. More than 7,000 children and adolescents are admitted each year. Stony Brook Children’s operates 100 pediatric beds and has more than 100 full-time pediatric physicians and surgeons and over 200 voluntary pediatric faculty members in 30 different specialties. The hospital is the Level 4 Regional Perinatal Center for our area and has a Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It is home to the nation’s first Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center and also offers a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program, Pediatric Cardiology Program, Pediatric HIV and AIDS Center, Cystic Fibrosis Center and the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.
