New York-Presbyterian Hospital marked the start of construction April 4 on its new 11,000-square-foot, $6.1 million Center for Autism and the Developing Brain on the hospital”™s White Plains campus.
The autism center, which is scheduled to be open by early 2013, will support research, educational programs and comprehensive treatment for people with autism spectrum disorders ranging from infancy to adulthood.
The center is being built in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York Center for Autism. It will be constructed by renovating a building that houses one of the campus”™s gymnasiums that has fallen out of use.
New York-Presbyterian is one of the largest nonprofit, nonsectarian hospitals in the country with five major centers, more than 2,400 beds and nearly 2 million inpatient and outpatient visits annually.
However, the hospital lacks a comprehensive autism treatment practice.
Catherine Lord, named director of the new autism center, said New York-Presbyterian currently only sees a small number of very young children for autism diagnoses and treatments ”“ and even then it is limited to families who can pay out-of-pocket.
The new autism center will enable the hospital to expand both its autism treatment and research arms so that it may offer more intensive care and treatment options to any family in need.
“Opening a center will allow us to see families with insurance, on Medicaid ”“ anybody,” Lord said. “It will allow us to see many, many more families and not just do assessment but also to do pretty intensive treatment right after kids get a diagnosis.”
The construction will be entirely financed through private philanthropy, hospital representatives said.
New York-Presbyterian is hoping to raise $11.1 million through a fundraising campaign that will support both the construction and operation of the facility.
Lord said she expected the autism center to have a staff of 50 to 60 specialists once it is fully operational.
Staff members will include psychiatrists, psychologists, speech and language therapists, behavior and education specialists, social workers, occupational therapists and consultants from other areas of medicine.
The start of construction comes at a crucial time for people with autism and those who treat the disorder.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are on the rise, affecting about 1.5 million American children and adults. Today, an estimated one in 88 children is diagnosed with ASD.
Steven J. Corwin, appointed CEO of New York-Presbyterian last September, said the new autism center will fill a crucial need and will further establish the hospital”™s behavioral health care division ”“ which is based at the Westchester campus ”“ as one of the best in the country.
“This is going to be a terrific center for autism and the developing brain,” Corwin said. “This campus as a whole, in terms of the psychiatric services we deliver, is a real treasure of the New York-Presbyterian system and something that people in Westchester and White Plains should be very proud to have in their community.”
