Capital Funding Investment Includes Equipment Upgrades and Diagnostic Equipment

Astoria, N.Y. – New York City Council Speaker Mark-Viverito, Council Member Costa Constantinides, Queens Delegation Chair Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, Mount Sinai Queens Executive Director Caryn Schwab, and the Mount Sinai President David Reich, MD, today gathered at Mount Sinai Queens to celebrate the Council’s $5 million of capital funding allocations for the hospital.

Since the current legislative session began in 2014, the Speaker, the Queens Delegation, and Council Member Constantinides have designated over $5.2 million in capital funding for the hospital. The allocations for state-of-the-art equipment have included:

Fiscal 2015

  • $2.135 million for a PET Scan machine

Fiscal 2016

  • $2.358 million for a robotic surgeon

Fiscal 2017

  • $211,000 for a UV disinfection unit
  • $658,000 for additional medical equipment

“With Mount Sinai Queens’ full functioning emergency room department, inpatient and outpatient services, Queens residents can rest easy, knowing that they no longer have to travel far for appropriate care,” said New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “The City Council is proud to have invested 5 million in capital funding to Mount Sinai Queens, which will allow the hospital to provide more patients with the best quality healthcare and advanced medical and surgical services in the area. I’d like to personally thank the Chair of the Finance Committee, Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, Queens Delegation Chair Council Member Karen Koslowitz, and Council Member Costa Constantinides, for their hard work in making improved access to healthcare a reality for the Queens community.”

“Mount Sinai Queens has provided world-class healthcare to our residents for almost twenty years,” said Council Member Costa Constantinides. “I am proud that our City Council has provided the resources that the hospital needs in order to keep our neighborhood healthy. These capital projects will allow doctors to perform innovative procedures that benefit our public health and allow for these procedures to happen here in our community instead of patients leaving Western Queens for them. I thank Speaker Mark-Viverito and my colleagues in the Queens Delegation for their continuing support of Mount Sinai Queens and making these critical investments to improve quality of life here in Western Queens.”

“As Chair of the Queens Delegation to the NYC Council, I was pleased to work with Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the members of the Queens Delegation to provide $658,000.00 to Mount Sinai of Queens to purchase critical healthcare equipment,” said Karen Koslowitz, Chair of the Queens Delegation. “I am so pleased that Mount Sinai has now become part of our community delivering quality healthcare services to our Queens’ residents. Our monies will go towards providing state of the art cardiac and gastrointestinal care for our community, and I was very proud to lead our delegation in funding these crucial diagnostic health care tools.”

“Mount Sinai Queens provides high-quality comprehensive medical care for our communities,” said Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer. “I’m proud to be part of a Council that recognizes the fundamental importance of access to healthcare for our communities. The Council has demonstrated that support by allocating over $5 million to Mount Sinai Queens. I look forward to working with the Speaker, my colleagues on the Council, and Mount Sinai Queens to keep our communities healthy!”

“We are extremely grateful to Speaker Mark-Viverito, Council Member Costa Constantinides, Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer, the entire Queens Delegation, our community partners, and everyone involved in facilitating the city’s generous investment to bolster the excellence in patient care provided by Mount Sinai Queens,” said Caryn A. Schwab, Executive Director, Mount Sinai Queens. “We look forward to continued collaboration with all of our partners as we realize the vision of a new Mount Sinai Queens.”

“Over the years, I have watched this institution transform from a separate, community hospital into a state-of-the-art, fully integrated medical facility providing the highest quality, personalized care,” said David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital. “Thanks to our city council partners standing with us today, the people of Western Queens are benefiting from a hospital that is responsive to the wide-ranging needs of our patients, and adapting to the changes taking place in medicine today.”

Mount Sinai Queens recently completed a $175 million new building as part of a major expansion on its Astoria campus. It’s part of Mount Sinai Health System’s significant commitment to the borough of Queens. The six story, 140,000 square foot building began opening in May with the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Emergency Department. The new 20,000 square foot state of the art Emergency Department features significantly larger facilities, a critical care and cardiac resuscitation room, a separate pediatric area, bariatric and dialysis capable rooms and a separate ambulance ramp that allows EMS direct access to the acute area of the Emergency Department. As a primary stroke center, direct access to CT is critical. The Council funding and the new Emergency Department will bring benefits to the entire Queens community.

The Emergency Department sees over 160 patients a day and expects to serve 58,000 patients in 2016 from neighborhoods all over Queens, including Astoria, Long Island City, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Bayside, and Sunnyside. Hundreds more use the Hospital’s facilities daily including its outpatient medical practices, Imaging Center, Operating Rooms and inpatient hospital.