Westchester Medical Center University Hospital (WMC), formerly Grasslands Hospital, is a 895-bed Regional Trauma Center providing health services to residents of the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut. It is known for having one of the highest case mix index rates of all hospitals in the United States. 652 beds are at the hospital's primary location in Valhalla, while the other 243 beds are at the MidHudson Regional Hospital campus in Poughkeepsie.
Westchester Medical Center is the primary academic medical center and University Hospital of New York Medical College. Many of New York Medical College’s faculty provide patient care, teach, and conduct research at the adjacent campus. The Center also offers roadside-to-bedside seminars to healthcare professionals and first responders throughout the year, providing them with information on topics like stroke treatments, transporting critical patients or organ transplants. Westchester Medical Center provides diverse specialty services through its six "Centers of Excellence", hosts one of the leading Kidney and Liver transplant programs in New York, and is home to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, the only all-specialty children's hospital in the region.
History
Originally purchased in 1915, the site which would eventually become Westchester Medical Center was first used as a United States Army Hospital during World War I. In 1920, the Army turned the hospital over to the Westchester County government which renamed it Grasslands Hospital. In the 1920s and 1930s, Grasslands Hospital specialized in treating adults and children with tuberculosis, polio, scarlet fever, and diphtheria and later became known for its cardiovascular services and became one of the first public institutions to establish a renal dialysis unit. Grasslands Hospital was closed in 1977 to make way for its modern replacement, the newly built regional academic medical center known as Westchester Medical Center. In 1998, Westchester Medical Center became an independent institution after being spun off from the county government as an independent public benefit corporation known as the Westchester County Health Care Corporation.
Clinical and speciality services
With more than 900 physicians practicing a wide range of specialties from Cardiology to Trauma, Westchester Medical Center provides medical care to all patients through its six "Centers of Excellence":
- Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital: The only all-specialty children’s hospital in the region. Pediatric specialists, including pediatric neurosurgeons, open heart surgeons, cardiologists, oncologists and infectious disease specialists, contribute to MFCH’s status as housing the only regional neonatal intensive and pediatric care units in the Hudson Valley. MFCH also has one of the largest pediatric corneal transplant programs in the nation.
- Trauma and Burn Center: As the New York State Department of Health-designated Burn Center for the Hudson Valley region, the Center treats both adult and pediatric trauma and burn cases, and is one of eleven hospitals designated as a Regional Burn Center.
- Transplant Center: Offering evaluation and treatment for patients of all ages who require kidney, liver, heart, corneal, and bone marrow transplants.
- Heart Center: Known for its cardiac surgery and cardiac catheterization programs, as well as its Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy National Center of Excellence, the Heart Center at Westchester Medical Center offers cardiovascular services to patients of all ages.
- Cancer Center: A player in cancer education and translational research, the Cancer Center provides diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic cancer programs and services.
- Neuroscience Center: Providing neurosurgical and neurological services to both adults and children, the Center features "knifeless" brain surgery, a comprehensive epilepsy program and a Cerebrovascular Center.
- Behavioral Health Center: The Behavioral Health Center at Westchester Medical Center offers inpatient, outpatient, community and emergency care for adults, children, and adolescents.
Quick facts
Westchester Medical Center is home to the region’s largest biomedical research site and much more:
- Advanced-care academic Medical Center
- Level I Trauma Center â€" American College of Surgeons accredited dual Level One adult and pediatric center
- Organ Transplant Center
- Full-service Heart Center
- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) National Center of Excellence
- Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
- Level IV (highest) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
- Burn Center in New York State verified by the American Burn Association
- All-specialty Children’s Hospital
- Regional Resource for Large-Scale Disasters
- Critical care Hyperbaric Center
- Comprehensive Stroke Center
- Regional Perinatal Center
Awards and recognition
- Awarded the 2010 IPRO Patient Safety Quality Award
- In 2009 named one of the 100 top hospitals in the nation for improved performance by Thomson Reuters
- Ranked fourth in New York State for overall bariatric surgery by HealthGrades in 2011. Previously received the HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Excellence Award for 2007/2008, 2008/2009, and 2009/2010
- One of only 25 hospitals in the nation to receive the American Heart Association’s 2008 Triple Performance Achievement Award
Milestones
- In 2009 Westchester Medical Center installed a 256-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner, the first of its kind in the Hudson Valley.
- In 2008 Children's Hospital physician Dr. M. Fevzi Ozkaynak helped lead a study that discovered new treatment for neuroblastoma, the most common cancer diagnosed in the first year of life.
- In 2008 Westchester Medical Center physicians completed the first combination heart/liver transplant ever performed in the Hudson Valley.
Expansion
MidHudson Regional Hospital
On May 9, 2014, WMC completed its purchase of St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, renaming it MidHudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Medical Center. This added 40 psychiatric beds, 18 rehabilitation beds, 60 chemical dependence beds, and 125 medical beds (including pediatric and intensive care beds) to WMC's total.
Bon Secours Charity Health System
On May 20, 2015, WMC announced that it would become the majority corporate partner in the Bon Secours Charity Health System, taking on active management of its three hospitals in Rockland and Orange counties and ancillary services.
HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley
On December 14, 2014, WMC and HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley announced that they had begun discussions which would lead to WMC becoming the sole corporate member of HAHV, resulting in a relationship similar to that with BSCHS. This would result in WMC taking over management of HAHV's two hospitals and assorted ancillary services in the area of Kingston, New York.
WMCHealth Network
With the establishment of these new associations in 2015, Westchester Medical Center announced the creation of the WMCHealth Network. The network has 1,900 patient beds in 10 hospitals on 8 campuses, spanning 6,200 square miles in the lower Hudson Valley of New York. The network has nearly 3,000 attending physicians and employs over 12,000 staff.
New Ambulatory Pavilion
In September 2016, WMC broke ground for a new ambulatory pavilion on its main campus in Valhalla, NY. The new building will be attached to the main hospital. It will include 20,000 square feet of new, private inpatient rooms, 75,000 square feet of office space for affiliated private physician outpatient practices, and 185,000 square feet of ambulatory care services, including an Advanced Imaging Center, an Ambulatory Surgery Center, and a Heart and Vascular Institute. At $230 million, this is the largest healthcare construction project in Westchester County since the hospital itself was built in 1977, and the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital was built in 2004. This building is expected to open in 2018, and will add 180 new full-time jobs to the hospital and local economy.
References
External links
- Westchester Medical Center
- Maria Fareri Children's Hospital
- MidHudson Regional Hospital
- Bon Secours Charity Health System
- New York Medical College Department of Neurosurgery
- NYS Department of Health Profile of Westchester Medical Center