Local Philanthropist Donates to PBMC's Center for Women and Infants

Riverhead, NY—Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) announced today that it has graciously received a $250,000 donation from local philanthropists Robert and Patricia Friemann to help support the hospital establish the region’s first Center for Women and Infants. The generous donation will help the hospital get closer to its fundraising goal as the design process is already underway with expectations to open the Center for Women and Infants in late-2025.

“Rob Friemann has been a driving force for empowering the North Fork community for many years, and we are incredibly grateful to him and his wife Pattie for seeing our vision as a key contributor to community prosperity for current residents and for generations to come,” said Peconic Bay Medical Center Executive Director Amy Loeb, EdD, MBA, RN. “Their generosity brings us closer to establishing the East End’s Center for Women and Infants, which will be a beacon of health and support for families in our community. This significant contribution aligns with our commitment to providing the highest standard of care to our patients and making the highest level of advanced health care available and accessible for all.”

The Center for Women and Infants will feature brand new private rooms and make much-needed comprehensive women’s health services accessible to residents throughout Eastern Suffolk County. It will also enable PBMC to increase its level of care for women at all stages of life, including a more advanced level of breast health, urogynecology and teleneonatology and a goal to develop a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The plans for this expansion were announced during an event PBMC held at the hospital in June of 2023 to share their five-year strategy. In that time, the Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation has raised more than $33 million.

“The Peconic Bay Medical Center’s impressive vision and track record is extremely exciting for the North Fork community, especially considering its current track record of success and how much the hospital has grown in just a short period of time. Pattie and I are honored to contribute to the realization of this crucial initiative,” said Rob Friemann. “I believe in the importance of making high-quality healthcare for women more accessible throughout our community. For too long, my family and my neighbors have been forced to drive long distances for treatment or ignore our health care out of convenience. With the investments that Amy and Peconic Bay Medical Center have already implemented and the tangible services they are in the process of bringing to the hospital, world-class medical care is now right in our backyards.”

The donation comes on the heels of Peconic Bay Medical Center being recognized by the national hospital rating agency Healthgrades as a Five-Star hospital in several sectors. The hospital also received three Awards of Excellence for Coronary Intervention, Gastrointestinal Care and Pulmonary Care. Along with these awards, PBMC was also listed among the Top Ten Percent in the Nation for coronary interventional procedures, overall pulmonary care, GI medical treatment and overall GI services as well. Peconic Bay Medical Center was also one of only seven Long Island hospitals to receive an A safety rating by Leapfrog in its Fall 2023 report. This was PBMC’s second consecutive A safety rating.

About Peconic Bay Medical Center

Located in Riverhead, NY, Peconic Bay Medical Center is a 144-bed nonprofit hospital committed to providing exceptional care and improving the health of the communities it serves. Peconic Bay Medical Center offers wide-ranging, full-scope services and programs, including advanced surgical, cardiac, orthopedic and women’s health care, comprehensive inpatient medical care, palliative care and an extensive range of outpatient services, along with state-of-the-art technology. Peconic Bay Medical Center joined Northwell Health in 2016. For more information, visit PBMCHealth.org and follow us @PeconicBayMedicalCenter on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.