By Rebecca Henely
Elmhurst Hospital Center has already raised all the funds for its planned Women’s Health Pavilion, but a new venture is expected to keep the donations flowing and provide something permanent for the givers.
Hospital staff and elected officials joined together Friday to cut the ribbon on the hospital’s “Walkway of Honor.” This walkway, which can be accessed adjacent to the hospital’s front entrance at 79-01 Broadway, is made up of bricks covered by an awning. Through the Elmhurst Health Center Auxiliary, a group of volunteers who raise money for the hospital, donors can buy a brick along the walkway. Bricks cost $150 for a 6-by-9-inch brick and $500 for a 12-by-12-inch brick — and several have already been purchased.
“Capital money is really hard to come by in the tight economy,” said Chris Constantino, executive director of Elmhurst Hospital Center.
Barry Brown, director of OB-GYN at Elmhurst, said the pavilion will house obstetrics and will be a way to ease the overcrowding at the hospital itself. It will offer genetic, nutrition and social services, as well as pre-conception counseling.
“It will be arranged so it will be comfortable and convenient and bright and light,” he said.
Brown said the building and equipment is largely paid for, but the donations will fund amenities usually not covered in the budget like telephones and a coffee machine.
Constantino said the cost to build the pavilion is $16 million and it is expected to be completed next year.
Borough President Helen Marshall, City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), former Councilwoman Helen Sears and state Assemblymen Francisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights) and Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights) spoke at the ribbon-cutting.
DenDekker said he and his family bought a stone for DenDekker’s brother, Joseph DenDekker Jr. The assemblyman said his brother had died at the hospital May 15, 2008, a few months before Michael DenDekker was elected.
“This building has an emotional attachment to me and my family because we were all here as he passed,” Michael DenDekker said.
Dromm also bought a brick, and said his mother had visited the hospital about five times during the last nine months and had always been treated well.
“This is the first time as a politician that I don’t mind being stepped on on a daily basis,” Dromm said.
Elizabeth Crowley, whose cousin U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) purchased a brick, said Elmhurst is a strong hospital and needs to remain so since New York City is facing a crisis when it comes to women’s health care, and it is difficult to get OB-GYN services.
“Everybody knows how important it is to get a doctor so close to home when you’re having a baby,” she said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
