As patients and visitors enter St. John’s Episcopal Hospital (SJEH)—the sole hospital of the Rockaways—it quickly becomes apparent that much is happening at the facility.
The main entrance leads to a lobby that features a new outpatient pharmacy and an aroma of coffee from the hospital’s new café that serves select Starbucks beverages, food, and gift items. The liveliness and action of the hospital stretches beyond the lobby to the emergency department where new rooms and state-of-the-art equipment make apparent SJEH’s renewed commitment to providing quality service to the residents of its surrounding communities.
Constructed in 1950, the emergency department was initially designed to treat 15,000 patients per year, but currently serves more than 40,000. Much of the increase could be attributed to the closing of Peninsula Hospital in 2012. The emergency department project is in its final phase, and at completion, will have expanded from 12,500 square feet to 22,000 square feet. New to the department is an advanced computerized tomography (CT) scanner and top-of-the-line x-Ray equipment.
“As we expand and improve our physical environment, we are diligent in our efforts to offer patients care using modern, advanced equipment to allow us to prevent and diagnose illness in the most efficient manner,” said Donald Morrish, MD, Chief Medical Officer.
SJEH is currently managing approximately $30 million in grant funding, which is helping fund current and planned renovation and expansion projects. This includes the renovation of the hospital’s labor, delivery, and maternity unit, and the construction of a Radiation Oncology Center and a Women’s Comprehensive Health Center. The grants were awarded by the New York State Department of Health, the G.A. Ackermann Memorial Fund, and the New York City Council through the offices of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and City Council Member Donovan Richards whose collective $4,077,000 in funding will go towards the labor and delivery unit renovation.
SJEH is also constructing a 4-story teaching/clinical services center in partnership with Ross University who contributed $10 million to the project.
“Not only are we enhancing our clinical services at the hospital, we are also invested in growing our footprint outside of the hospital’s walls to meet the medical needs of the communities we serve,” said the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Jerry Walsh. “Our patients and community members deserve great medical care close to home, and we are intent on meeting and exceeding expectations.”
