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Manhattan's first standalone emergency center opens soon
The first freestanding emergency center in Manhattan called Lenox Hill HealthPlex is expected to open its doors next week. The center is a six-story, 160,000-square-foot building that's staffed and equipped to care for up to 45,000 patients per year.
The building was previously the headquarters of the National Maritime Union. In 2012, renovations began to turn it into the emergency center. By 2015, the center will have services including ambulatory surgery, outpatient rehabilitation, imaging, health and wellness, medical specialty practices and home care. The total cost of the project is over $150 million.
St. Vincent's Hospital, which was formerly located across from where the HealthPlex is now, closed down in 2010 and residents were forced to travel outside of their neighborhood to get emergency care and other medical service. Michael Dowling, president and CEO of North Shore-LIJ Health System, which owns and operates Lenox Hill Hospital, said in a statement that the HealthPlex "fills a major void" that existed since St. Vincent's closed.
The HealthPlex's emergency center comprises about 28,000 square feet of the first floor of the building. It will be the receiving facility for the New York City 911 Emergency Medical System and have an advanced life-support ambulance to transfer patients who require hospitalization.
Additionally, it will have 26 private emergency bays including two inpatient beds and it will employ about 150 health care professionals.
"We will have all the equipment, technology and training to treat a person of any age with any medical problem. While the overwhelming majority of patients will be able to be treated and released, those few who need admission or surgery will be treated, stabilized, and transferred to the hospital of their choice," Dr. Eric Cruzen, director of emergency medicine at HealthPlex, said in a statement.
Although there are over 400 freestanding emergency departments in the U.S. Montefiore Medical Center's Westchester Square in the Bronx is currently the only other 24 hour emergency center that isn't located on a hospital campus in New York City.
