On December 5, 2005 construction began on a new building at Maimonides Medical Center, in Brooklyn. On October 17, 2007 IMAGE Magazine was invited to take a private tour of the new facility. Later that day, Mayor Bloomberg, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Borough President Marty Markowitz attended a ribbon cutting ceremony in honor of the many new additions to the medical center.
Our tour was given by Dr. Steven P. Shelov, Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, Vice President of Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Dr. Shelov graduated from Yale University; he served as Vice Chairman and Professor of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and he is the author of 15 books. Maimonides is lucky to have him.
“I have been here since 1997 and my goal was to grow this hospital,” he began as he led us around the new facility. Dr. Shelov’s dream has finally come true.
The new building, which encompasses the old round building, is home to 65 new nursery bassinets for newborns, 37 pediatric inpatient beds, an expanded pediatric emergency room, a pediatric surgery and endoscopy center and a new pediatric oncology center. Young patients and their siblings will enjoy a new children’s playroom and recreation area. And parents will appreciate the accommodations in each room for moms and dads who wish to spend the night, including rooms in the intensive care unit. Dr. Shelov wants to make the hospital as comfortable as possible.
The new building will have murals of colorful fish on the walls and in the rooms. There will be two big fish tanks to brighten the atmosphere and hopefully the spirits of the little patients. There will even be a direct connection between the hospital and the Coney Island Aquarium, so children can watch events as they
happen.
“We have four floors of the nine in the new building,” said Dr. Shelov. “Originally they were going to make it a six-story building, but I was a member of the design group and suggested that they make it the same height as the building adjacent to it.” Following his good advice, they drew up new plans incorporating two additional floors.
“The first floor is neonatal intensive care. The third floor is for newborns. We have more newborns here than at any other hospital. Eight years ago we delivered just fewer than 4,500 babies. This year we delivered 6,710—that’s an increase of almost 45%. We deliver more babies than any other hospital in New York State.”
The mission of Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital (the only children’s hospital in Brooklyn) is to serve all families with compassion and understanding, in an environment that recognizes their physical, emotional, financial, social and spiritual needs. “We want to create a hospital for children, where you don’t feel like you’re in a hospital,” said Dr. Shelov. “That’s the kind of hospital that the children of Brooklyn deserve.”
The new Children’s Hospital will establish Maimonides Medical Center as the leader of care for children in Brooklyn. Every department has an expert staff and is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.
When minutes can mean the difference between life and death, it is important for parents to know that the full range of quality health care is available around the clock, here in our community. No child will ever be turned away.
Hospitalization can be very frightening for children, particularly those facing chronic illnesses. The Child Life Program at Maimonides is dedicated to alleviating the stress and anxiety that accompanies illness. Child Life specialists employ cognitive behavioral techniques, such as distraction and diversion, to relieve anxiety. They also teach breathing and relaxation to help manage pain.
The Norma Sutton Center for Neonatology will be gaining more space in the new building. There, the hospital’s tiniest patients are given immediate, specialized care.
Maimonides is one of the few select hospitals in NYS to be designated a Regional Perinatal Center. Their Pediatric Intensive Care unit is equipped with the most advanced technology for the treatment of respiratory failure, heart conditions, neurological disorders, and severe infections.
“We have some of the best physicians in NY working here,” said Dr. Shelov, “and some wonderful Sephardic board members, as well, like Isaac Sutton and Steven Shamah. Marty Payson is chairman of the board of trustees. We’ve worked with Nancy Sutton of Sephardic Bikur Holim, Celia Beyda from Sephardic Friends of Maimonides and Layla Leshkowitz is on the children’s hospital board. They all deserve our thanks.”
“We would love to have more representation from the Sephardic community. And we would like the community to consider us their hospital. Please join us and share our enthusiasm for celebrating the beginning of life, the progression of family and the building of community.”
“I’m excited to say that we will move our patients from the old building to the new one right after Thanksgiving.” What began as a vision is now a reality.
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Karen Wolitzer is an editor and writer for IMAGE Magazine.
