A busy Brooklyn hospital will be getting a $5 million upgrade that will include an expansion of its emergency department, the City Council’s Brooklyn delegation announced on Tuesday.
The Brooklyn delegation, co-chaired by Councilmembers Mark Treyger and Antonio Reynoso, secured $5 million in funding to pay for renovations at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, a 388-bed facility in North Brooklyn that treats residents from Bushwick, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bed-Stuy and Fort Greene.
As part of the renovation, which is expected to be completed in early 2020, the Emergency Department will expand by 5,000 square feet. The funding will also pay for sixteen new examining rooms and the construction of a new, state-of-the-art nurse’s station. There will also be a new “transition hub,” where patients being discharged from the ED can be linked to a primary care doctor for a follow-up visit or receive consultation on medications.
The ED currently has 18,700 square feet of space and was originally built to provide treatment for up to 65,000 patients a year. Last year, the hospital treated more than 107,000 patients, according to NYC Health + Hospitals.
The Council’s funding will also cover the purchase of new medical equipment, including additional stretchers, portable EKG machines and ventilators.
Treyger, Reynoso and Manhattan Councilmember Carlina Rivera, chairperson of the Health Committee, visited Woodhull on Tuesday to make the announcement.
“New Yorkers depend on our public hospital system, and I am proud that we are making progress in strengthening this critical social safety net,” said Treyger, a Democrat who represents Coney Island, Gravesend and parts of Bensonhurst.
“Woodhull Hospital is a lifeline for many residents throughout my district,” said Reynoso, a Democrat representing Bushwick, Ridgewood and parts of Williamsburg. “By funding necessary upgrades and improvements to hospital facilities and equipment, this allocation will enable the hospital to provide even greater care to a broader range of patients.”
Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, said the expansion will “help us better serve those who entrust us with their care at some of life’s most difficult moments, and give us the opportunity to connect them to the primary care services they need to stay healthy and out of the ED.”
