NYU Langone opens ambulatory care center, ER in Cobble Hill

March 31, 2023 Mary Frost

From left to right: Andrew W. Brotman, MD, exec. VP and vice dean for clinical affairs and strategy, chief clinical officer; Vicki Match Suna, AIA, exec. VP and vice dean for real estate development and facilities; Fritz François, MD, exec. VP and vice dean, chief of hospital operations; Robert I. Grossman, MD, chief executive officer of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU School of Medicine; Joseph Lhota, exec. VP and vice dean, and chief of staff; NYC Mayor Eric Adams; Rep. Daniel Goldman; Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg; Bret J. Rudy, MD, exec. VP and chief of hospital operations, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn; and Grace Y. Ko, exec. VP for development and alumni affairs. Photo by Beth Eisgrau-Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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With the snip of a purple ribbon, the city’s highest-rated ambulatory health and emergency care system was welcomed to northwest Brooklyn on Friday.

Officials including Mayor Eric Adams and U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman joined supporters, doctors and administrators to celebrate the opening of the long-anticipated NYU Langone Health’s Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg Ambulatory Care Center at 70 Atlantic Ave. in Cobble Hill.

“We are all filled with pride knowing what this will mean to the community,” said Dr. Robert Grossman, chief executive officer of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU School of Medicine.

A display of branded cookies at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the NYU Langone Health Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg Ambulatory Care Center located on Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Photo by Beth Eisgrau Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Grossman stressed that all of the NYU Langone Health locations, including the hospital in Sunset Park, have the same high quality ratings, bringing health equity to the borough. “We have one hospital ID — all the metrics are consolidated,” he said. “The Sunset Park location has the same metrics and the same high quality as the Manhattan location. That’s equity.”

NYU Langone’s mortality rate is “one half the next best health system in New York City,” he added.

“This building is a big deal,” Adams said. “But there’s always a missing piece. Builders can’t replace the care, love and kindness this staff brings about. It’s the care and the emotional intelligence that will determine how people feel when they leave here.”

Robert I. Grossman, MD, chief executive officer of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU School of Medicine (left), and NYC Mayor Eric Adams (right) test out golden scissors in preparation for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg Ambulatory Care Center. Photo by Beth Eisgrau Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The new 165,000 square-foot, 5-floor health center sits on the site of the former Long Island College Hospital (LICH), which was sold by the State University of New York in 2014.

“There was lots of fear when the hospital closed years ago. People were afraid,” Adams said. “Now it’s bigger and better than ever.”

The Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg Ambulatory Care Center houses a state-of-the-art 24-hour emergency department (ED), as well as a branch of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, an outpatient surgical center, and primary and specialty care medical practices. The site also offers an on-site clinical laboratory, a women’s health center, a pathology team, radiology, imaging and other services. All NYU Langone facilities are connected by a single electronic health record system.

The NYU Langone Health Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg Ambulatory Care Center resides at the busy southeast corner of Hicks and Atlantic Avenue. Photo by Beth Eisgrau Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The ED includes 27 treatment beds and bays, including two triage rooms and five negative pressure treatment rooms. It also includes two “overnight” hospital beds, dedicated CT and X-ray imaging services, and bedside technology patients can use for communications and entertainment. Patients needing hospitalization will be transported (at no charge) to an NYU Langone hospital in Sunset Park or Manhattan.

Goldman said that NYU Langone Health’s hundreds of facilities “are not just in wealthy areas. Across New York City, in Sunset Park, now here in the heart of northwest Brooklyn — it’s the same top-notch health care that NYU Langone provides everywhere.”

Robert I. Grossman, MD, chief executive officer of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU School of Medicine presided over the remarks after the ribbon-cutting. Photo by Beth Eisgrau Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Named in honor of Brooklyn Heights’ Steinbergs

The new care center is named after Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg in recognition of their generosity to NYU Langone, including a gift to expand access to outpatient care in Brooklyn.

Longtime residents of Brooklyn Heights, the Steinbergs support and partner with many other Brooklyn-based institutions, including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the St. Ann’s Center for Arts and Education, NYU Tandon School of Engineering Board of Overseers, and NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center Advisory Board.

Joseph Steinberg, who graduated from NYU in 1966, said, “The beauty [of the new health center] is it serves everyone.” He praised Dr. Grossman, saying, “When Bob started, NYU hospital system was broken. Bob put together a team and put in a city-wide system.”

Here Mayor Eric Adams speaks about his appreciation for the care his mother received at NYU Langone. He applauded the institution’s ability to provide excellent medical services at the new ambulatory center. Photo by Beth Eisgrau Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Dr. Fritz Francois, executive vice president and vice dean and chief of Hospital Operations, stressed NYU’s “commitment to bring quality and safe care to Brooklyn. NYU is about excellence, and this particular facility is going to bring the exact same quality care to the communities and to the patients here in Brooklyn.”

Francois anticipates the ambulatory care center and emergency departments will see more than 200,000 patients. The physician practice includes 19 medical and surgical specialties.

“We are prepared to serve the borough of Brooklyn and its diverse communities — from Greenpoint to Red Hook and everything in between,” he said. “Not just with the Emergency Department, but with cancer care for children and adults, patients who need gastroenterology care, orthopedic care — we are ready. And we are very excited to be in this community.”

Two of the 22 patient-care bays at the new 24-hour emergency room at the NYU Langone Health Joseph S. & Diane H. Steinberg Ambulatory Care Center located on Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Photo by Beth Eisgrau Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Dr. Andrew Brotman, executive vice president, vice dean for clinical affairs and strategy and chief clinical officer at NYU Langone Health said, “This clinical hub will be transformational for the neighborhood.”

On Saturday, April 1, the interim NYU ED — which has been in operation at 83 Amity St. since the sale of LICH — will close, and the new ED at 70 Atlantic Ave. will be open for business. (The ED’s walk-in entrance is on Atlantic Avenue and the ambulance entrance is on the Hicks Street side of the new building.)

Nancy Conroy, MD, service chief, NYU Langone Hospital—Cobble Hill, and clinical associate professor, Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine poses in one of two of the Emergency Departments’ overnight observation rooms. Photo by Beth Eisgrau Heller for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

On Monday, April 3, the interim NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Center at 97 Amity St. will close, and ambulatory services will resume at the new building on Atlantic. Valet parking will be available for all patients.

NYU Langone will further expand this spring with the opening of the Red Hook Family Health Center at NYU Langone, where it will offer primary care, dental care, obstetrics and gynecology, behavioral health and family support services.