Photo Courtesy of Darren McGee/Office of the Governor
Hochul made the announcement at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday morning alongside Jamaica Hospital leadership, elected officials and local community leaders.
By Forum Staff
Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday announced the groundbreaking of the $150 million Jamaica Hospital Emergency Department expansion and modernization project. The project will build a new state-of-the-art emergency department, creating the only Level 1 trauma center in the area and adding two new critical care units with 22 new ICU beds. The funding was awarded through the Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program IV. Hochul made the announcement at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday morning alongside Jamaica Hospital leadership, elected officials and local community leaders.
The original Jamaica Hospital Emergency Department was designed to handle 60,000 patients annually, however currently serves closer to 120,000 patients per year, not factoring in the increased visits it experienced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. After almost a decade of planning, the expansion and modernization project was able to move forward after Jamaica Hospital was awarded $150 million through Statewide IV. The project will construct a new 48,534 square foot facility on an adjacent property now being used as a parking lot for physicians.
Among the 13 Level 1 Trauma Centers in New York City, this project will enable Jamaica Hospital to build an expanded and modernized emergency department to adequately meet the community’s needs.
The Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program is aimed at supporting efforts to reduce health care costs and improve the health outcomes of New Yorkers by expanding access to inpatient, primary, preventative, and other ambulatory care services as part of regionally integrated health care delivery systems. These awards are also focused on projects which will help ensure the financial sustainability of safety net health care providers, and the preservation or expansion of essential health care services. Statewide IV was established in the FY2023 Budget and authorized up to $200 million for emergency department modernizations of regional significance.
To receive funding, hospitals needed to demonstrate how the proposed project will strengthen and protect continued access to health care services in communities.
Only Level 1 Trauma Centers serving a high percentage of Medicaid patients were eligible to apply. Level 1 Trauma Centers provide the highest level of trauma care to critically ill or injured patients.
“Jamaica Hospital is a premier trauma center, and the only trauma center in the Southeast Queens area near JFK airport,” City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park). “Their emergency department has been steadily growing over-utilized – a problem made even worse by a number of hospital closures in the area in recent years. The expansions and upgrades that this project will provide are desperately needed and will go a long way towards improving the quality of care that Queens residents receive. As someone who has worked very closely with Jamaica Hospital in the past, I have seen first-hand how hard the staff there works, and with these new amenities at their disposal I am confident that we will be seeing even greater things from these dedicated professionals – great things which will lead to a brighter future for everyone in the borough and beyond.”
