Just about five years after the October 2019 announcement by Montefiore that it planned to close the Mount Vernon Hospital and replace it with a $41 million emergency care center, a plan was announced today to not only save the hospital but to transform the facility to become what is being described as a community model for both inpatient and outpatient care.
The transformation is due to be funded by a $41 million capital investment from New York state. According to Regginald Jordan, who is the vice president for clinical services and executive director of Montefiore Wakefield Hospital and Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital, some improvements already have been made to the hospital. Jordan said that Montefiore needs to receive Certificate of Need approval from New York state before it can begin the three-part master plan for major improvements and expansions at the hospital.
“First project is the emergency department. Our emergency department is woefully undersized at 2,500 square feet and 10 treatment bays,” Jordan said. “It will quadruple in size to just under 11,000 square feet and 30 treatment bays. The second project is our operating room. We will build six operating rooms that range in size between 500 and 700 square feet. We’ll build two dedicated G.I. (gastrointestinal) suites as well as a new pre- and post-recovery area. And the third project is making significant improvements to our family health and wellness center to address primary care and help eliminate and reduce access issues.”
Jordan said that Montefiore expects to submit its Certificate of Need package o the state this winter. He said that significant cosmetic improvements have already been made to the existing Mount Vernon Hospital facility. He said that improvements have been made to the inpatient units. He said that the hospital records system has been upgraded to have the same electronic capabilities as the records systems used elsewhere by Montefiore.
“This is more than a financial investment — it’s a commitment to collaboration and continued advocacy for the health, wellbeing, and future of Mount Vernon,” said Mount Vernon Mayor, Shawyn Patterson-Howard. “This transformation will provide our residents with state-of-the-art facilities and comprehensive care, underscoring our collective dedication to a healthier future for our city.”
Patterson-Howard pointed out that the hospital had gone down to an inpatient capacity of six and by the first quarter of 2025 the hospital will have more than 100 overnight beds open again.
