Stony Brook University has welcomed Southampton Hospital, hereafter known as Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, as a member of the Stony Brook Medicine health system, announced Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, President, and Ken Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President for the Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine. As such, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital will now provide care under Stony Brook University Hospital’s New York State operating license.
“Today we celebrate a unique opportunity in which academic medicine and community medicine can come together to benefit our entire region,” said Dr. Stanley. “As a result of the State’s comprehensive review process, we can now move confidently forward, taking what started as an alliance between two successful institutions, to the next level, as we welcome Stony Brook Southampton Hospital officially into the Stony Brook University family.
“We will continue to build on successful collaborations achieved over the past ten years, which have already brought many new programs to the East End, including a robust number of internship and residency programs at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, and where students enrolled in graduate programs in the health sciences on the Stony Brook Southampton campus, can put their training to good use as the next generation of allied health professionals to help address the shortage of providers on the east end and beyond.”
In the time that it has taken to finalize the agreement, the two hospitals have successfully collaborated on bringing new services to the community, the most critical of which is the new cardiac catheterization laboratory, part of the Audrey and Martin Gruss Heart & Stroke Center, which will be the first on Long Island to open east of Route 112, and where clinical operations are scheduled to begin on September 5. Also coming in late 2018 is the new Phillips Family Cancer Center, a facility that promises to make top-level cancer care more easily available to East End residents.
Other programs Stony Brook Southampton Hospital now offers as a result of the ongoing relationship include:
- A provisional Level 3 Trauma Center, with 24-hour coverage by emergency medicine doctors and a trauma surgeon available within 30 minutes
- A Hybrid Operating Room with sophisticated imaging capabilities
- Graduate Medical Education programs, including Internal Medicine, Family Medicine internship and residency programs, plus Osteopathic Medicine programs in Surgery and Transitional Year resident programs, with additional rotations planned for Emergency Medicine students and residents
- A new cardiology practice in Southampton with Stony Brook cardiologists Travis Bench, MD, and Dhaval Patel, MD;
- A robust vascular program offered at the Audrey and Martin Gruss Heart & Stroke Center led by Stony Brook vascular surgeons;
- Access to genetic counseling for East End patients and their families;
- Stony Brook directorship of Laboratory and Pathology.
“The future of medicine on Long Island will evolve and advance as we bring Stony Brook Medicine to Southampton, with access to specialty care, research and technology that otherwise would not have been available,” said Dr. Kaushansky. “That includes access to the latest clinical trials and cutting-edge medicine that Stony Brook provides. And in some cases, it means faster access to lifesaving services when time is critical and patients need to be quickly transferred to a higher level of care.”
“By joining Stony Brook Medicine, the new Stony Brook Southampton Hospital has strengthened its ability to fulfill its 100-plus year mission of providing access to the highest quality healthcare for the communities it serves. We look forward to our elevated role as part of the Stony Brook family to bring the very best in academic medicine and patient care to the East End,” said Robert Chaloner, Chief Administrative Officer for Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.
The completed transaction enables the two hospitals to improve healthcare quality and access, coordinate care and improve efficiency for patients through shared resources and managing the flow of patients between the two facilities.
“The Southampton Hospital Association board of directors is proud to have our hospital join Stony Brook Medicine,” said Kenneth B. Wright, Chair, Southampton Hospital Association Board. “We welcome the leadership that Stony Brook will provide and we look forward to expanded access to high quality healthcare for our communities on the East End.”
“We are fostering a healthcare delivery system to better service the needs of Long Islanders, elevating access to primary and specialty services on the South Fork through an integrated system that provides a full continuum of care,” said L. Reuven Pasternak, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Hospital and Vice President for Health Systems, Stony Brook Medicine.
“Building a regional healthcare delivery system will ensure the continued growth and strength of both Stony Brook University Hospital and our community hospitals throughout the area,” said Senator Ken LaValle, Chairman of the New York State Senate Higher Education Committee. “This affiliation is a major step forward in building on the excellent healthcare programs in Southampton and ensuring that residents have access to specialists and vital services close to home. I congratulate the leadership at both Stony Brook and Southampton Hospital for their tireless efforts and dedication in bringing this to fruition.”
Assemblyman Fred Thiele stated, “I am pleased to have partnered with State Senator Ken LaValle in facilitating the merger between Southampton Hospital and Stony Brook University Hospital. The East End is already seeing the benefits from this affiliation with Stony Brook University Hospital in better and more accessible health care. The future is even brighter with this final agreement. I look forward to the future that will lead to a state-of-the-art medical facility at the Southampton campus and an emergency care facility in East Hampton, as well as many other advancements in health care. Congratulations to Southampton CEO Bob Chaloner and the entire Board of Directors of Southampton Hospital.”