‘Puts a lot of us to work’

On Thursday, Aug. 27, Brookhaven held a public hearing for NYU Langone Hospital-Suf- folk, where the council approved their 270,000-square-foot $650-million proposed pavilion expansion project.

The project, according to NYU Langone officials, formerly Long Island Community Hospital and, before that, Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, will provide even more access to medical care. Plans include a 144-bed hospital pavilion addition to the Patchogue-based campus.

Director of Town Planning, Don Hohn, opened the hearing, the 10th on the agenda, with a description of the current hospital.

New York State Sen. Dean Murray addressed the board in favor of the application. “I just wanted to come before you and offer words of support for this major, expansive project... NYU Langone health has been absolutely incredible... a valued partner of our community.”

Murray listed coat drives and trick-or-treating events coordinated by his office and NYU Langone.

“They want to invest in our community and be long-term partners,” said Murray.

Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano was unable to attend the meeting, and Murray relayed the assemblyman’s strong support of the project.

Vincent Alu, treasurer of the Laborers Local 66 and Patchogue resident, spoke, and thanked the board for a recent display of honor for 9/11 and the moratorium passed on data centers in Brookhaven Town.

“From a laborer’s perspective, from a building trades, this puts a lot of us to work. Many of the projects before you, we won’t get near a touch. This one we probably will, and we’ll have a big representation on this job, everything from the demolition in the existing hospital to the foundation work and everything up and through the facility... what they [NYU Langone] did to that building on Burlington and Main Street in Patchogue was nothing less than remarkable... they’ve been a great partner since they’ve come to Long Island,” said Alu.

Matthew Aracich, the president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau & Suffolk Counties, which represents 65,000 skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen, addressed the board. “When I first got here, I actually engaged with NYU and their attorney Kennedy. It’s good because I have friendly faces here, friendly faces on my right and friendly faces to my left. That gives us a vote of confidence that we’re going in the right direction.”

Aracich expressed enthusiasm about addressing NYU Langone’s cost-saving initiatives with labor contracts and insurance rates.

“The majority of the workforce expected to work on this site actually comes from Brookhaven. Those are the ones who live here, work here, play here, pay the taxes. Our goal is to have local jobs for local people,” said Aracich.

With no other speakers from the public, NYU Langone attorney Brian Kennedy returned to the forum and said, “As you heard from the public, this is a transformative project that will benefit all the citizens in Brookhaven.”

At the conclusion of the public hearing, councilman Neil Foley spoke and said, “Usually, when we have an appli- cation like this, we have 55 people here and we get different opinions. The fact that the public didn’t show is basically
an endorsement for this property.”

Supervisor Dan Panico, who was born at NYU Langone-Suffolk when it was Brookhaven Hospital, remarked that in previous years, there would be a “second guess” about the capabilities of the hospital.

“The infusion of capital and human capital as well in this facility is going to serve the residents of Brookhaven, namely East Patchogue and the surrounding area, really quite well,” said Panico.

For the application, NYU Langone submitted a Full Review Certificate of Need to construct a new bed pavilion facility of 144 private patient medical/ surgical and intensive-care rooms at 101 Hospital Road.

The pavilion will be located on the south side of the campus and is proposed to be five stories. Upon completion of the pavilion, the total bed count of 306 beds will remain the same; however, according to hospital officials, “more efficient, usable space will be added to provide current-day standards of patient care in a modern facility.”

According to senior VP and chief of hospital operations Dr. Marc S. Adler, “The anticipation is that as we complete this, then we will be able to essentially remodel the existing hospital and convert every room to a single bed... single-bedded rooms support an environment that fosters health and recuperation, with better opportunities for patients and their families and caregivers and our staff to connect. It provides a quieter environment and one with less
risk of infection.”

The project, he said, is part of NYU Langone’s overall goal of creating a “seamless integration” of care across the entire health care system from Suffolk County to Nassau and New York City.