by Cris Italia
"This project is a vital and logical step in our hospital's evolution," said the hospital's president and CEO, Joseph Quagliata. "[The addition] will ensure that we will be able to continue to provide high-quality health care for many more decades to come."
The new wing will boast a maternity unit as well as units for behavioral health and patient care, and a 400-seat educational conference center.
"We are excited about our ambitious expansion program," Quagliata said. "Over the course of our 75-year history, we have grown up alongside Nassau County. We have evolved from a small community hospital into a provider of sophisticated health care services. We look forward to serving the health care needs of our patients for many decades to come."
The patient-care units will feature central family and patient waiting spaces with concierges. Waiting areas will be designed around landscaped courtyards and dedicated patient lounge space that will incorporate natural light and panoramic views of the community. More than 30 percent of all patient rooms will be private.
The maternity unit's new home will be a hospital within a hospital. Large labor and delivery rooms will be created in a homelike setting, while providing all of the necessary equipment and clinical support to safeguard mothers and infants.
South Nassau's expanded behavioral health unit will provide activity space designed to enhance interaction among the residents, offering access to both indoor and outdoor activities. The North Addition's 400-seat educational conference center will serve as a link among South Nassau, its health care professionals and patients and their families. The center will offer educational seminars as well as lectures for health-care professionals.
The North Addition is projected to be completed sometime in 2006, and will not only offer additional beds and much-needed employment opportunities in the medical field, but will also ensure that 600,000 people of the South Shore will have a hospital equipped for the 21st century.
