FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Monday, March 21, 2005

Mayor Bloomberg, HHC, DASNY Open New Acute Care Pavilion at Jacobi Medical Center

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NEW YORK � Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and�New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation�Acting President Alan D. Aviles today announced the opening of the new Acute Care Pavilion at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. The Dormitory Authority supervised the construction of the $173 million building, a 344-bed inpatient tower with private and semi-private rooms and a new emergency department that is twice as large as the one it replaces.

The Mayor was joined at the announcement by HHC Chair Charlynn Goines; Joseph S. Orlando, Senior Vice President of the North Bronx Healthcare Network and Executive Director of Jacobi Medical Center; Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Councilwoman Madeline Provenzano, and Dormitory Authority Executive Director Maryanne Gridley. About 300 people attended.

The new pavilion completes the first phase of a $246 million modernization project that will transform the hospital, originally built in 1955. The project was funded through bonds issued by the Dormitory Authority and through New York City general obligation bonds.

The next phases of the modernization project will include a new Ambulatory Care Pavilion with a public space attaching it to the existing building.�

"All New Yorkers deserve the best possible health care regardless of their ability to pay," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The opening of the new Acute Care Pavilion at Jacobi demonstrates the commitment of this administration to ensuring that our public hospitals, which provide some of the best health care in the city, also have state-of-the-art facilities."

DASNY Executive Director Gridley said, �I�d like to thank Mayor Bloomberg for his continued support of HHC�s mission and his passion for superb public hospitals. And as we welcome Alan Aviles as the Interim HHC President, I also want to thank Dr. Benjamin Chu and Dr. Luis Marcos for their past support of the Dormitory Authority as HHC�s construction partner.�

Ms. Gridley explained that the Jacobi project is the largest full-service hospital that the Dormitory Authority has built for HHC since its partnership began eight years ago � more than 390,000 square feet of new inpatient care space.

�We are proud of our collaborative efforts, as HHC has evolved into one of our largest construction programs,� Director Gridley said. �Well over $200 million for capital projects was put in place for HHC hospitals this year.�

"This is a wonderful day for the entire HHC family," said HHC Interim President Aviles. "With the new Acute Care Pavilion at Jacobi and major projects under way at virtually every acute, community-based and long-term care facility, the HHC system as a whole has advanced light-years from where it was just a few short years ago. When compared with public and private healthcare systems across the nation, our facilities, as well as our care, stack up with the very best."

"The many communities that comprise the North Bronx have long dreamed of a new Jacobi Medical Center that would provide care that exceeds the care available elsewhere," said Mr. Orlando, Senior Vice President of the North Bronx Healthcare Network and Executive Director of Jacobi Medical Center. "Such a facility has risen before our eyes and will soon be available to serve people of every possible background. I take great pride and satisfaction that such a momentous event has occurred during my tenure as leader of this great institution."

The new nine-story Acute Care Pavilion consists of a 344-bed inpatient tower, a 36,000 square foot emergency department, a 43,500 square foot surgical and ambulatory surgery suite, a 28,000 square foot imaging and diagnostics center, and a 28,000 square foot central sterile supply areas.

The new emergency department has separate adult and pediatric emergency departments, each with dedicated reception, triage, waiting and treatment rooms. The Children's Emergency Service is the only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in the Bronx. Treatment areas include 60 adult exam rooms and 13 pediatric exam rooms, dedicated asthma treatment rooms, coronary observation stations and cast rooms. There are three adult and two pediatric trauma bays to care for the most critically ill patients. A dedicated imaging area in the emergency department includes the most sophisticated imaging equipment currently available, including two high-speed CT Scan machines.

The new pavilion also includes a state-of-the-art imaging and diagnostics floor, which is comprised of intake, diagnostic, and support areas. Separate waiting areas will be available for inpatients and outpatients. The diagnostic area will have rooms dedicated to chest radiology, angiography, CAT Scanning, MRI, ultrasound and mammography.�

In addition, the new pavilion includes artwork from artist Arlan Huang, who was commissioned by the City's Percent for Art program, in the lobby area of the new facility. A Zen-inspired sculpture hanging 20 feet above the main staircase and escalators is comprised of 50 hand-blown glass spheres and ovals and three hanging glass plates. The piece serves to animate the public space of the hospital and evoke a sense of tranquility and contemplation.

Ms. Gridley also publicly thanked the Dormitory Authority�s project team: Douglas M. Van Vleck, Managing Director of Construction; Bob Walsh, HHC Construction Program Director; Chief Project Manager Nick D�Ambrosio; Senior Project Manager Mike Cacchio; Assistant Manager Cristiana Oghina; Project Accountant Al Diaz; and the field staff, Orel Munoz, Anthony Mercado and Anthony Botta.

HHC hospitals serve more than 1.2 million New Yorkers each year; 450,000 of them are uninsured. Over the last three years, all of the 11 HHC hospitals have undergone rigorous review by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations-the independent body responsible for monitoring hospital compliance with professional standards. HHC hospitals have received some of the highest scores ever earned by any hospitals, public or private, in New York City. Jacobi Medical Center is named after Abraham Jacobi, an immigrant physician who was a tireless advocate for children. Dr. Jacobi directed the City's first pediatrics clinic at Bellevue Hospital in 1874 and is widely credited as the father of pediatrics as a modern medical specialty.

For more information, contact Dormitory Authority Press Officer Claudia Hutton at (518) 257 3382, or CHutton@dasny.org; Kate McGrath of the Health and Hospitals Corporation at (212) 788-3386, or Nancy McPartlin-Gardella at Jacobi Medical Center at (718) 918-3827.

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