Peconic Bay Medical Center announces new chair of emergency medicine

RIVERHEAD, NY – Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) announced that Ninfa Mehta, MD, MPH, has joined the hospital’s emergency medicine team as the new Chair of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Mehta will also play an integral role in the hospital’s expansion efforts to advance the nationally recognized care it provides residents throughout Eastern Suffolk County.

“Peconic Bay Medical Center is thrilled to welcome Dr. Mehta as we continue to elevate the level of Emergency Medicine and life-saving critical care we are able to offer,” said executive director Amy Loeb, EdD, MBA, R.N. “Dr. Mehta’s proven track record of leadership and dedication to delivering top-notch emergency care will be a valuable addition to our distinguished team of medical professionals as we work to make world-class health care accessible to all. We look forward to the positive contributions Dr. Mehta’s leadership will have on both our patient care and the broader community.”

Dr. Mehta’s appointment comes on the heels of PBMC receiving several national recognitions for excellence in emergency medicine from the national rating agency Healthgrades. This includes the Healthgrades Coronary Intervention Excellence Award™ for the third year in a row (2022-2024) and Five-Star ratings for treatment of heart attack, the treatment of heart failure, critical care, and the treatment of sepsis and respiratory failure.

Building off this success, PBMC has embarked on an aggressive expansion effort to add more space to the hospital’s Emergency Department and further advance the care available. The Poole Family Trauma & Emergency Center, announced in June 2023, will increase the emergency department by more than 6,600 square feet. The larger emergency department will enable PBMC to implement more life-saving technology, including a dual bay trauma unit and additional cardiac response units. It is also expected to increase capacity by more than 75 percent to accommodate the rise in patient volumes due to the region’s growing population and PBMC’s reputation for sophistication and advanced medical care—PBMC has seen twice as many patients as it was initially designated to serve. This expansion will save lives and make high-level care more accessible to all.

“It is an honor to join Peconic Bay Medical Center, which has been renowned throughout the medical industry for its excellence in emergency medicine,” said Dr. Mehta. “Collaborating with the skilled professionals at Peconic Bay Medical Center, I am committed to advancing our mission of delivering the pinnacle of emergency medical care to our community.”

Before joining PBMC, Dr. Mehta spent the last seven years as the medical director for the SUNY Downstate Emergency Department. In that capacity, Dr. Mehta worked to optimize the emergency department’s efficiency and functionality. Dr. Mehta also held several committee roles to enhance hospital services including Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Emergency Preparedness, Stroke Care and Executive Performance, which analyzed a range of metrics to assess the hospital’s performance and patient experience. In addition to serving as the emergency department medical director, Dr. Mehta also held a range of academic positions including a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Vice Chairman of Faculty Development and Education.

As the eastern hub of Northwell Health and eastern Suffolk County’s largest health care provider, PBMC provides over 250,000 eastern Suffolk residents with the closest access to advanced cardiac catheterization suites, a New York State-designated stroke center, Level III trauma services and Eastern Suffolk County’s largest—and busiest—Emergency Department.

For more information about Peconic Bay Medical Center’s services, visit pbmchealth.org.

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 on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.