Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) President and CEO Tony Ferreri and Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro today announced that New York City was allocating a total of $4.9 million toward the $25 million modernization of Staten Island University Hospital's North Campus Emergency Room (ER).  The Mayor was also joined by Health and Hospital Corporation (HHC) President Alan Aviles and Chairman of the Board of Staten Island University Patrick McDermott at the announcement at the North Campus of Staten Island University Hospital.

"Staten Island is the fastest growing county in New York State and its burgeoning population is stressing its public health system," said Mayor Bloomberg.  "This $4.9 million investment will leverage the additional dollars to rebuild, modernize and increase the capacity of the emergency room at Staten Island University Hospital.  This new ER will not only expand services to patients, but improve Staten Island's Health system's preparedness for public health emergencies and natural or man-made disasters. The City will assist the hospital in the planning and construction of the new ER to maximize efficiency and the functionality of the space."
 
The planned expansion will nearly triple the size of its emergency department at SIUH to 22,000 square feet.  The new ER will include 25 private treatment rooms, two trauma treatment rooms, four isolation rooms, an 18-room urgent care center, triage rooms, a separately staffed pediatrics section, a radiology center and an EMS service area. 

The expanded emergency department will ultimately serve as the ground floor for a new three-story wing for the hospital. 

The existing ER at SIUH is antiquated and dangerously crowded.  Patients are often lined up in the hall and sometimes have to travel to the other SIUH campus or to St. Vincent's emergency room.  These transports can jeopardize patient safety and other Staten Island ER's are often equally as crowded as SIUH. In addition, the SIUH emergency room, as currently configured, can not handle an influx of patients from a significant public health emergency or natural disaster. Staten Island University Hospital's two emergency rooms serve more than 100,000 patient visits annually. The emergency room at the North campus was built in 1979, when the population of Staten Island was just over 350,000 people and was built for 20,000 visits per year.  Today there are nearly 500,000 Staten Island residents and the North Campus ER sees nearly 70,000 visits per year.

"On behalf of University Hospital, our Board of Directors and the residents of Staten Island I would like to thank the Mayor and his administration for their extraordinary commitment to the health and well-being of our community," said SIUH President Tony Ferreri.  "As a result of Mayor Bloomberg's leadership, Staten Island University Hospital's Emergency Department will be transformed into a modern and technologically advanced center delivering superior care.  University Hospital's Emergency and Trauma Center is the busiest on Staten Island. We are fortunate to have the best trained, most skilled physicians and now they will be able to help those in need and save lives in a leading-edge center. 

This is clearly one of the most important health care advancements on Staten Island in quite some time."