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Mostly Cloudy NYU Langone unveils $170 million facility
The ambulatory care center is the largest on Long Island
NYU Langone designed its new facility with a goal in mind: creating a one-stop destination for patients’ medical needs. The hospital, which has 32 specialties under one roof, makes the days of running between appointments and specialists a thing of the past.
“So it’s no longer having the patient go to multiple places — the places come to them,” Martin Chavez, chief of maternal-fetal medicine, said. “And it’s not so bad of a place to be when you need services,” he added, gesturing to the surrounding lounge area.
The new hospital, in Garden City, encompasses an entire half-mile block — which some neighbors may remember as the old Bloomingdale’s — making it the largest ambulatory care center on Long Island. The $170 million facility is the latest development in Nassau County’s goal of becoming a premier site for health care, said county executive Bruce Blakeman.
“The county is investing a significant amount of money in marketing Nassau County as a destination site for medical tourism,” Blakeman said. “I believe this is very very important for our economy. It is a jewel in our whole economic development of the region.”
“That’s what’s so great, is to have a facility like this,” he said, “So that people in this community who have a medical condition can get the high quality first class treatment — I would say world class treatment — here that you don’t find in many places across the world.”
The ambulatory care center expects 35,000 patient visits every month, so a positive patient experience was among their highest priorities, NYU Langone officials said. They want to deliver world-class hospital care without an atmosphere of coldness or sterility. The center features floor-to-ceiling windows for natural light, colorful couches and coffee tables, and an outdoor garden.
“It makes a huge difference — you can see it in our patients,” Chavez said. “You can see it when our patients are able to come in and be in a comfortable environment as they wait.”
“Whether it’s an exam room, an ultrasound room, a consultation room, it doesn't matter,” he added. “They feel at ease, they feel safe, they feel like it’s the level of care they deserve and expect.”
Experiencing illness or chronic health issues is stressful enough. The ambulatory care center is designed to remove the added challenge of juggling different specialists. Someone who is visiting a pulmonologist and discovers heart issues, for example, can now just head down the hallway to the cardiology department, rather than be caught in a cycle of referrals.
“It’s not only a wonderful environment for our patients, it’s a wonderful environment to be a clinician for patients as well,” Chavez said. “Now all I have to do is walk down the hall and I can get a consultation, or talk with a colleague about a complex patient.”
Balancing 25 consolidated practices and 32 specialties was no small feat, JeanMarie Addeo, senior director of the facility, said. She and other NYU Langone administrators had to figure out which departments should be separated, which should be neighbors, and which need the most space.
The resulting flow has created a very collaborative environment. The 600 nurses and support staff even have something of a running competition, Addeo said: to memorize each of the 300 doctors’ names, specialties and floors so they can match any patient to any doctor. Though the care center’s resources play a large role in its success with patients, the staff are the real key to quality health care.
“I’m incredibly proud of this beautiful, wonderful facility,” Blakeman said. “But more importantly, the people that work here that provide healthcare to our whole population.”
