Peconic Bay Medical Center announces $92 million investment for expansion
Northwell Health’s Peconic Bay Medical Center announced a $92 million investment for the expansion of the Riverhead hospital on Friday afternoon.
The funds will be used to add 6,600 square feet to the emergency department, establish a brand-new private Center for Women and Infants and implement new, life-saving technology.
The emergency department’s expansion will increase the capacity of the 144-bed hospital by 75%, according to its executive director, Amy Loeb. She said the expansion — which is slated to be complete by the summer of 2024 — will “match the facility with the capabilities and the expertise of our amazing team.”
The hospital’s improved emergency department will offer a dual bay trauma unit, additional cardiac response technology, comprehensive radiology capabilities and enhanced efficiency.
The emergency department will be renamed the Poole Family Trauma & Emergency Center to honor the landmark $5 million contribution made by local philanthropists Thomas and Mary Jane Poole. Mr. Poole said he had “a pretty big smile” the day he made the donation.
“It isn’t the name on the building,” he said. “If that helps my friends and other people want to do the same thing, then God bless, but it’s about this staff, the nurses, the doctors. It’s a unique place that has grown from ashes. This is going to be the [healthcare] centerpiece on Long Island, I’m sure of it.”
The project also includes the modernization of the South Pavilion, which will create 16 to 20 additional medical beds as well as establish the new Center for Women and Infants. PBMC sold the Robert Entenmann campus on 2nd street to Riverhead Town for $20 million in 2022 and will reinvest those funds towards the modernization of the pavilion, which will be named after Mr. Entenmann.
It will allow the hospital to care for women at all stages of life and include a more advanced level of breast health, urogynecology, and tele-neonatology. The modernization will also support the hospital’s goal to develop a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). It will also include new operating rooms and private in-patient rooms.
“We want to be a destination for women and infants’ health,” Ms. Loeb said. “Moms from this area who deliver a baby that requires that level of care have to travel just too far and it’s not okay with us,” she said.
The Center for Women and Infants is currently in the design phase, and the hospital will soon begin the application process for the expansion.
“That will take a couple of years,” Ms. Loeb said.
Ms. Loeb also announced at the celebratory event at the hospital on Friday afternoon, which was attended by staff, stakeholders, and community members, that the hospital has already raised over $30 million of their $50 million goal to support the expansion. They hope to reach that goal by 2025.
This campaign is Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation’s largest endeavor since 2018, when it unveiled the Kanas Regional Heart Center made possible by the John and Elaine Kanas Family Foundation, and the Corey Critical Care Pavilion named in honor of Emilie Roy and Michael Corey.
“With this investment, PBMC will extend access to health care for resident throughout eastern Suffolk and further eliminate any barriers that once stood in the way,” President and CEO of Northwell Health, Michael Dowling said in an accompanying press release. “PBMC is a hospital dedicated to serving the people of this great community and it has continued to adapt to stay true to that mission as our area’s population grows and our medical needs become more complex. We are excited to be on this journey and are grateful to all those who have contributed to making it possible.”
