Hospital Plans To Expand Are Approved
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New York-Presbyterian yesterday received the go-ahead on two capital projects worth $423 million.
After a unanimous vote by the State Hospital Review and Planning Council, a division of the state Department of Health, the hospital can now move ahead with plans to build a $254 million Cardiovascular Center at its New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center campus in Washington Heights, and make $169 million worth of additions and upgrades to the New York Weill Cornell Center on the Upper East Side. The plans were first disclosed in The New York Sun last week.
The facility upgrades will boost the hospital’s cardiology and neurology facilities, two high-profile areas that are considered highly lucrative.
NewYork-Presyterian was formed in 1998, when Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center merged with New York Weill Cornell Medical Center. Industry analysts have characterized the move as unusually successful. As New York-Presbyterian spends capital and expands its services, several other New York City hospitals have been struggling financially, including Brooklyn Hospital, St. Vincent’s, and Lenox Hill Hospital.
NewYork-Presbyterian’s latest spending spree illustrates a growing divide between larger, university-affiliated hospitals and smaller, community institutions. Last spring, Governor Pataki convened the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century. In December 2006, the commission is scheduled to present its recommendations on which of New York’s 73 hospitals should be closed or modified.
In the most recent U.S. News & World Report survey on America’s best hospitals, NewYork-Presbyterian was named the city’s top hospital and the seventh best in the country. The hospital’s neurology department was ranked no. 3 and its cardiology department no. 7 in the nation. NewYork-Presbyterian has about 13,800 employees and is New York City’s largest private employer and its largest hospital. It treats one out of every five New York patients. Last year it had revenues of $2.43 billion, and $2.41 billion in expenses.
