South Nassau Announces $130 Million Plan Expand Emergency, Critical Care and Surgical Services

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. - Feb. 22, 2016 - PRLog -- South Nassau Communities Hospital today announced its plan to construct a four-story, 58,000 square foot addition to the Southwest corner of the hospital that  will feature a new, medically advanced critical care patient unit with up to 24 additional beds; double the size of the Emergency Services Department and modernize and expand its operating rooms.

The estimated $130 million project also includes the upgrade of the hospital’s emergency electrical system as well as the construction of a new, energy efficient central utility plant with back-up heating and air conditioning systems.

The four-story addition in Oceanside also would increase the number of treatment spaces in the Emergency Department with expanded and improved waiting areas and separate treatment areas for pediatric, geriatric and behavioral patients. The new structure would house additional critical care beds to meet growing demand for critical care services and new operating suites.  The new operating rooms also would allow for renovation of existing operating rooms, some of which are 40 years old and do not meet current space needs for operating suites.

“This project will allow us to meet the future needs of the communities we serve all along the South Shore of Nassau County,” said Richard J. Murphy, President and CEO. “We are seeing increased demand for emergency services as well as for critical care beds. This addition will double the size of our Emergency Department while also updating our operating suites. The addition will benefit the entire Southern tier of the county, including residents of Long Beach and the barrier island.”

South Nassau has briefed more than 60 local community, civic and elected leaders about its plans for expansion. That process will continue in the weeks ahead as hospital officials seek additional input from communities it serves along the South Shore. The proposed plans still must undergo a series of formal review procedures at the local and state levels.

The Southwest Addition project is one of the key components of the “alternative use application” that South Nassau will soon be submitting to the state as part of plans for use of $171 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds the agency agreed to allocate to South Nassau in the fall of 2014.  The FEMA funds were appropriated by Congress after South Nassau demonstrated a commitment and sufficient financial strength to restore medical services to the South Shore following Superstorm Sandy that forced the closing of the former Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach.    The New York State Office of Emergency Management oversees administration of the FEMA funds.

         South Nassau’s emergency department is one of the busiest in Nassau County.  The department currently sees some 65,000 patients a year, but is designed to handle just 35,000 annually. Housing 35 patient treatment bays, the ED is a New York State Department of Health regional stroke center and the only Level II Trauma Center located in southern Nassau County.

The expansion project will increase the Emergency Department’s square footage from 16,000 to 30,000 square.  The increase in private patient treatment bays will give the ED the capacity to accommodate in excess of 80,000 patient visits each year.  The design of the expanded Emergency Department in Oceanside allows for separate entrances for walk-in patients and patients transported by ambulance, as well a larger ambulance docking bay to facilitate the triage of patients from ambulances to the ED.  Its waiting area will be larger with comfortable furnishings complemented by new, high definition televisions, spacious rest rooms, and Wi-Fi.

A key design element of the modernized and expanded operating rooms will be a dedicated elevator connecting it to the new critical care patient unit as well as a centrally located, larger surgical equipment sterilization unit with direct connection to the Operating Room suites, facilitating the transportation of patients as well as scheduling of surgeries. The Southwest addition will feature state-of-the-art operating suites with the latest advancements in medical and surgical technologies and equipment. The combined impact of these features this will allow South Nassau and its staff of surgeons to increase its surgical scheduling capacity and meet the rising need for  same-day, elective and emergency surgical care on the south shore of Nassau County.

The Southwest addition also will allow South Nassau to meet the growing demand for critical care services. While the demand for medical-surgical beds generally is decreasing, the number of patients in need of highly specialized care provided in critical care units is on the rise. South Nassau projects a need to nearly double the number of critical care beds available.

The proposal for a Southwest addition in Oceanside is in addition to a planned $40 million Medical Arts Pavilion that also is being planned for Long Beach at the site of the shuttered Long Beach Medical Center. South Nassau currently operates a free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach. The Medical Arts Pavilion would serve as the permanent home of the Long Beach Emergency Department and potentially house other services needed in the community like primary care, dialysis treatment and occupational and physical therapy. More than $30 million has already been spent in Long Beach to acquire the former Long Beach Medical Center, which was shuttered after Sandy, and to open Long Island’s first, free-standing Emergency Department on the barrier island.

More information about the proposed FEMA projects in Oceanside and Long Beach can be found at South Nassau’s website at: http://www.southnassau.org/fema