Schneider is expanding hospital’s Neonatal ICU

Schneider Children’s Hospital, located in New Hyde Park, broke ground on its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) expansion on Wednesday, September 19.
The expansion program is being done in two phases and will cost $144 million. It is projected that Phase I will be completed in the latter part of 2008 and Phase II will begin in early 2008.
Schneider Children’s Hospital, which opened in 1983 and currently has 154 beds, was recently named to U.S. News & World Report’s list of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals.”
Through Phase I of the expansion project, which will cost about $22 million, 24 beds will be added to the NICU for high-risk newborns because of a 5,900-square-foot addition. There will also be a four-story, glass-enclosed atrium. It will be 20,000-square-feet and will have a playground, performance stage and winter garden, among other features.
During Phase II, a four-story, 100,000-square-foot building will be constructed. Along with having the first stand-alone pediatric emergency department on Long Island, the building will also have a state-of-the-art imaging center and a 25-bed pediatric unit. There will also be a medical unit with 25 beds.
One-year-old Benny Zangri and his family were on hand to help with the celebration. Benny and his twin brother Joseph were born on August 22, 2006, after only a little more than 22 weeks.
The twins were given less than a five percent survival rate and endured various medical problems. Benny was eventually transferred to Schneider Children’s Hospital on September 10, 2006 following a sepsis episode and underwent heart surgery for Patent Ductus Arteriosus. His brother was unable to fight the second episode and passed away on September 12, 2006.
After a seven month stay at Schneider Children’s Hospital, Benny was discharged on April 3, 2007. He still has chronic lung disease and for about the next year his heart will have electrical issues, among other things. However, his parents attribute his survival to Schneider’s NICU.