New Hospital and Behavioral Health Updates by Dr. Jeremy Boal

This week I want to continue to share important updates we have on the plan for the new hospital.

As you know, building the new hospital is hugely complex and we take each decision extremely seriously, because we know it’s essential that we get it right.

We are making some modifications to the original plan, but we do not expect that this will impact the commitments we have made to our workforce, patients, or the community. The Center will still include a state-of-the-art emergency department, the previously committed to 70 beds, the same services, the same equipment and access, and the same potential capacity to add beds if we need to in the future. We remain fully committed to providing the downtown community with the best quality care and meeting the evolving needs of our patients.

What we learned over the last few weeks is that we can build the new hospital faster by using some additional underutilized portions of the current New York Eye and Ear facility. With this additional space availability, the height of the new building will be slightly reduced, but all of the planned services will remain the same, and we anticipate we will be able to build it faster and better.

Here are some updated renderings showing the new space, inside and out.

A rendering of the ambulance bay on 13th street.

Inside of a patient room.

I am also excited to share our plan to expand behavioral health services for the community and relocate them together in one newly-renovated building 45 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side. In addition to keeping all of the existing services – including inpatient behavioral health, detoxification, and rehab – we will be adding essential new services including intensive crisis and respite beds, primary care, a partial hospital program, and others. The plan is for the new Center to be a state-of-the-art, community-oriented destination for behavioral health care and a “one-stop” location of services for mental health, addictions, physical health, and social service needs for the downtown community.

The Bernstein pavilion and programs will remain open and fully operational while we await the opening of the newly-renovated Rivington site. At no time will there be an interruption of existing services.

We are very excited about these new plans as we will be able to deliver the type of world-class care in state-of-the-art facilities that our communities deserve to be treated in and you deserve to work in.