Brooklyn Gets $210M To Revamp Failing, Overcrowded Hospitals

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Central Brooklyn, home to some of the most medically underserved residents in the state and some of the worst hospitals in the nation, will get hundreds of millions of dollars to improve its healthcare services, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced.

Brooklyn hospitals, healthcare centers and ambulatory care sites will get an influx of cash through One Brooklyn Health, a new $210 million initiative that the governor’s office announced last week.

This investment comes eight months after a nonprofit found Brooklyn hospitals rank among the nation’s worst, earning earned two Fs, six Ds and five Cs in a study that measured how likely a patient was to risk further injury in a hospital.

The findings were especially troubling considering how few primary care doctors there are in Central Brooklyn — only 55 for every 100,000 residents, or about one doctor for 1,818 potential patients — and that, with 497 visits for every 1,000 people, Central Brooklynites are more likely to go the emergency room than anywhere else in the state, according to the governor's office.

About $140 million will be designated for flagship projects to improve primary care facilities, more than $30 million will toward opening and expanding 11 community health centers, and $40 million will bring more ambulatory care locations to underserved neighborhoods.

CROWN AND PROSPECT HEIGHTS:

The Medical Village at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center will be redeveloped to offer improved patient and outpatient services and get five ambulatory surgery centers equipped for outpatient surgery, an imaging center, and a comprehensive center for patient support, rehab and palliative care.

Bishop Walker Health Care Center will be renovated to add a Teen Health Center and extra exam rooms, with new equipment, to its women's and children's health center.

Pierre Toussaint Health Center will be renovated to increase primary care capacity and improve patient flow.

ODA Crown Heights will build a $6 million specialty care facility to offer podiatry, endocrinology, dermatology, cardiology, neurology, OB/GYN and behavioral health services.

BROWNSVILLE AND EAST NEW YORK:

The Medical Village at Brooklyn Developmental Center will get a new ambulatory surgery and imaging center with two operating rooms, two endoscopy suites, one ultrasound unit, one mammography system and bone density scanner.

Old Bristol Women & Child Health will be fully renovated to expand its women's and children's health services.

The Brownsville Multi-Service Center will get $10.3 million for a new health clinic that will bring 60 new healthcare jobs into the neighborhood when completed.

Brightpoint Health Alpha School will get a new elevator, an onsite pharmacy, 10 new primary care rooms and 10 behavioral health rooms, $4 million integrated care center, and a $1 million urgent care center.

BED-STUY AND BUSHWICK

The Bed-Stuy Family Health Center will open a new $2.25 million primary care site with family medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN and chronic care management.

Community Health Network will identify a location to provide primary care, outpatient care, as well as physical and behavioral health services in Bushwick.

FLATBUSH

Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center will open two new ambulatory care sites and a primary care center in East Flatbush with its $6 million grant.

ACROSS BROOKLYN

Up to $40 million will be spent on a nine-site Ambulatory Care Network in underserved neighborhoods in particular need of primary and specialty care services.

This initiative is part of Cuomo's $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn program that is bringing new services to Central Brooklyn.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton