Mount Sinai Begins Phase 1 Of $500M Downtown Transformation
Phillips Ambulatory Care Center (PACC) renamed Mount Sinai Downtown Union Square, to be upgraded to become Specialized Care Facility including a new Urgent Care Center;
Mount Sinai Cancer Center West renamed Mount Sinai Downtown Chelsea Center, to open new Women’s Cancer Center Facility with Integrated Breast Cancer and Gynecology Oncology Services
Mount Sinai Health System today announced the start of the first phase of its more than $500 million project to rebuild Mount Sinai Beth Israel (MSBI) and create the new “Mount Sinai Downtown” network. The new network will consist of expanded and renovated outpatient facilities at three major sites with more than 35 operating and procedure rooms and an extensive network of 16 physician practice locations with more than 600 doctors, stretching from the East River to the Hudson River below 34th Street. Mount Sinai Downtown will be anchored by a new MSBI inpatient hospital with operating and procedure rooms, and a brand-new state-of-the-art Emergency Department, located two blocks from the current MSBI. The transformation will also include a major investment to support and strengthen behavioral health services, anchored at MSBI’s Bernstein Pavilion. Additionally, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai will be preserved and enhanced. MSBI hospital will remain open throughout this transformation, and its emergency room will remain open until the new ED is fully operational at the new hospital.
“Our more than $500 million investment marks an exciting time, not only for Mount Sinai’s employees and patients, but also the entire Downtown community, as we truly transform how patients access and receive the health care services they need,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, CEO and President of the Mount Sinai Health System.
Upgrades to Mount Sinai Downtown Union Square (formerly Phillips Ambulatory Care Center)
One of the first steps in the transformation will be upgrading Mount Sinai Downtown Union Square (formerly the Phillips Ambulatory Care Center) into a more specialized care facility, with expanded and enhanced ambulatory procedural capabilities and a new urgent care center. While construction is currently underway to accommodate some of these expanded capabilities, the facility’s brand-new lobby will be completed in the coming weeks. Renderings are available for the press and public. The lobby renovation will not only enhance patient access and provide new ways to access the upper level, but will also include concierge services to help patients find their way.
Additional renovations—such as creating state-of-the-art procedure rooms and upgrading technology for exceptional fully integrated electronic health records systems—will allow Mount Sinai to provide a number of new, specialized services at Union Square, including endoscopy, disease management programs, and a Respiratory Institute.
Finally, in mid-2017, Union Square’s second floor will be home to a new, comprehensive urgent care center, including pediatric care, with weekend and evening hours. This expanded access will provide community members the care they need at more convenient times, close to home and next to one of the City’s largest and most accessible public transportation hubs.
Upgrades to Mount Sinai Downtown Chelsea Center (formerly Mount Sinai Cancer Center West)
At Mount Sinai Downtown Chelsea Center (formerly Cancer Center West), Mount Sinai will be opening a brand new Women’s Cancer Center facility with integrated breast cancer and gynecology oncology services, upgraded technology and expanded mammography services. Construction at the Mount Sinai Downtown Chelsea Center is almost complete and renderings are available for the press and public.
Construction of the new Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital
Mount Sinai has retained renowned architectural firm Perkins Eastman, which will oversee design work and construction of Mount Sinai’s brand-new hospital. Pending approvals, demolition at the new site is expected to begin early 2017 with construction beginning early 2018. Construction of the new hospital is expected to be complete by late 2020. Initial renderings are available to the press and public, while the finalized renderings and designs are still being completed.
Workforce Impacts
Earlier this year, Mount Sinai confirmed that all union employees affected by the transformation would be offered other union opportunities at equal pay. Thus far, more than 150 Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital employees have accepted new opportunities at the same or higher salaries with the Mount Sinai Health System. Mount Sinai continues to work closely with all employees during this transformation.
Service Transitions
As part of the transformation—as previously announced—some highly complex procedures and other services will be moved to other Mount Sinai facilities over the next 18 months to enhance the patient experience through a more holistic, fully-integrated approach to care in modern, state-of-the-art settings. Some of these changes include:
- Developing comprehensive plans about the cardiac services we provide downtown, including relocating the MSBI cardiac surgery program to Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. MSBI will continue to treat patients at our 24-hour cardiac catheterization lab on our MSBI Petrie campus, and will continue to operate an emergency heart attack and stroke program at MSBI.
- Transitioning joint replacement services to Mount Sinai West in 2017 and relocating inpatient head and neck surgery, neurosurgery, colorectal and surgical oncology to another Mount Sinai facility in 2017 or 2018. Physician offices and ambulatory surgical procedures will remain at MSBI downtown campus.
- Upgrading ambulatory practice on West 17th Street, where patients can access comprehensive, integrated primary and behavioral health care.
Mount Sinai Downtown Network Leadership Team
Beth Israel Hospital President Susan Somerville has decided to leave her position. “For over fifteen years, my husband and I have had a home on the East End of Long Island. My husband has retired and I will be joining him in order to pursue new opportunities out East,” said Somerville. She will remain in her role at the Hospital until senior management identifies a successor who can serve as President of Beth Israel and lead the Mount Sinai Downtown transformation.
“Susan has provided amazing leadership during several challenging years as President of Beth Israel, and I truly cannot say enough good things about the job she’s done. We are incredibly lucky to have had her as part of our team and very sad to see her go, but we understand her desire to make this transition and wish her all the best,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, CEO and President of the Mount Sinai Health System.
As our transformation moves forward, Mount Sinai remains committed to working with all employees, elected officials, local leaders and the community as the plans solidify. To help everyone keep up to date on any changes, Mount Sinai will continue to provide specific updates to the timing and location of these transitions as they develop. For more information, please visit Mount Sinai’s Downtown Transformation website at www.mountsinai.org/downtown.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.