Health

Top Stories 2016: PBMC trauma center, expansion news

PBMC

In April, Peconic Bay Medical Center announced one of its most ambitious projects ever: plans to build a three-story critical care tower, double the size of its emergency room and add a rooftop helipad.

If completed, the $60 million proposal would enable the Riverhead hospital to become the North Fork’s first licensed trauma center, according to PBMC president and CEO Andrew Mitchell.

The plans call for a three-story extension to be built above the existing emergency room and the addition of four updated trauma bays, along with upgraded equipment and connections to the larger Northwell Health network. Also included in the proposal is a new intensive care unit and a rooftop helipad approved by the Federal Aviation Administration that would be capable of landing Suffolk County, U.S. Coast Guard and Northwell Health helicopters.

The additions would allow the hospital to obtain certification from the American College of Surgeons as a Level 3 trauma center — and possibly even enable it to aim for Level 2 certification. Mr. Mitchell said patients in need of trauma care could be taken to PBMC for stabilization and then airlifted to a Level 1 trauma center within Northwell Health’s network of hospitals.

The trauma center would also offer North Fork ambulance crews a more geographically desirable alternative to Southampton Hospital or Stony Brook University Hospital, said Southold Fire Department Chief Peggy Killian, an emergency medical technician.

File photo: Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.