Winthrop Hospital may merge with NYU Langone

Winthrop-University Hospital and NYU Langone are in talks to merge their two organizations. Officials at Winthrop say this “strategic partnership” would benefit the Long Island community and the hospital’s patients and their families.

Both organizations are in the due-diligence, negotiation and approval process. If the linkage is finalized, it would “create an integrated healthcare network for the New York metropolitan region,” according to a Winthrop news release.

John Collins, president and CEO of Winthrop, said, “…with our services in such demand, it became obvious that we needed to expand further, physically and geographically.” NYU Langone outshined other health care providers because of their “mutual commitment to improving quality,” “complementary geographic presence,” and comparable culture, Collins said in a memo to all Winthrop employees.

Winthrop’s main location is their 591-bed hospital in Mineola. They also have an ambulatory surgery center in Garden City, Specialty Center East in Deer Park and its CyberKnife Center in Manhattan. On Jan. 12 of this year, Winthrop opened a newly renovated trauma center, the only one of its kind in Nassau County with adult and pediatric capabilities.

NYU Langone Medical Center, with its main campus on the east side of Manhattan, also operates more than 175 locations throughout the area, including on Long Island in East Rockaway, Garden City and Lake Success.

J. Edmund Keating, vice president of marketing, advertising and public relations at Winthrop-University Hospital, said, “I think the goal is to try to have an agreement ironed out within the next month or two but a lot has to happen during that process.”

Keating also said that as patient numbers are growing due to the aging population on Long Island, there is an increased demand for ambulatory surgery capabilities, inpatient care and an expanded emergency department. There is consequently a greater need for more surgical and medical beds. An affiliation between Winthrop and NYU Langone will potentially accommodate these issues.

The state has to approve an affiliation once the organizations file for a Certificate of Need, which is a process of regulating “establishment, construction, renovation and major medical equipment acquisitions of health care facilities,” as stated on the New York State Department of Health’s website.