Margaret Tietz breaks ground on $3M expansion

The Margaret Tietz Nursing & Rehabilitation Center will be expanding and renovating their Jamaica Estates facility. Over the next seven to eight months, officials plan to add about 1,000 square feet to the Chapin Parkway campus by building a new Rehabilitation Pavilion alongside their main building and then breaking down the wall in between. In addition, the main building will undergo extensive renovations.
“This is a step in a plan that we have committed to for the next several years,” said Margaret Tietz Executive Director Gerald Hart, of the entire $20 million project. The first phase will include the $3 million expansion, which will enlarge the Pavilion to 2,100 square feet.
Officials said that plans for the expansion and renovation stemmed in part from an increase in the number of patients in recent years.
In 2006, the NYU Rusk Rehabilitation Network selected The Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as its site of choice for rehabilitation in Queens, and since then, officials at Margaret Tietz said that the partnership dramatically increased the number of patients.
In addition, much of facility dates back several decades.
“We saw how much potential we had with a 1971 facility,” said Michael Fassler, President and CEO of Beth Abraham Family of Health Services, of which Margaret Tietz is a member.
Fassler later added, “We want that wow factor.”
A number of elected officials, including Assemblymembers Ann Margaret Carrozza, Ellen Young, Nettie Mayersohn, and Rory Lancman; State Senators Toby Stavisky and Frank Padavan; and Councilmembers Leroy Comrie and James Gennaro, were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony.
“What’s happening here at Margaret Tietz and the surrounding area is really a rehabilitation and a renaissance,” said State Senator Toby Stavisky.
Gennaro said that he had witnessed the care at Margaret Tietz firsthand when his father in law fell ill in 2004.
“This is where he got the ultimate care and the ultimate love … it was just wonderful the outpouring of love we all felt,” Gennaro said.
“What matters most is what goes inside the buildings. I can’t think of anything more worthwhile, more important, than what goes on at Margaret Tietz,” said Lancman.
Planners said they expect one of the biggest challenges of the project to be avoiding utilities when laying the foundation for the new structure. However, as of the groundbreaking on Friday, April 11, officials said that they had a clear picture as to where the underground lines were located and could proceed with construction.
Once completed, the Pavilion will double the amount of rehabilitation patients Margaret Tietz can serve and also feature mock kitchens, bathrooms, stairs and entranceways, so patients can practice daily activities as they would at home.
“Our job is to get someone acclimated back to the home environment,” Hart said, later adding, “Anything that you would find in your home environment, you will find it here in the Margaret Tietz Center.”
Hart explained that by expanding the space, the Center can allocate more of their total 200 beds to short-term rehabilitation - currently 40 beds are devoted to short-term care.
“We see there is a need in the community for people that aren’t receiving the care in the hospitals … We want to get [patients] them here, get them strong, get them healthy and get them back in their environment and enjoying themselves,” Hart said.