QUEENS — Elmhurst Hospital's emergency room will undergo a renovation and expansion in the next few years to accommodate more patients after a number of hospitals closed throughout the borough, officials said.
The plans are part of the mayor's push to transform the Health and Hospitals Corporation according to the OneNYC plan, which was released Wednesday.
Elmhurst Hospital on Broadway, one of three level one trauma centers in Queens, has seen a 33 percent increase in patients between 2008 and 2014 when five Queens hospitals — Peninsula, Mary Immaculate, St. John's, Parkway Hospital and Holliswood — closed, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Emergency room patients increased to 90,206 visits in 2014, compared with 67,454 visits in 2008, officials said.
Now, with financial support from City Councilman Daniel Dromm, City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, former Borough President Helen Marshall and the Queens delegation of the City Council, it will create more space for its new patients.
"The renovation/expansion project will help accommodate the increased volume by improving patient flow and access, with upgrades to ensure that the facilities and equipment remain state-of-the-art," an HHC spokeswoman said in a statement.
The renovations were discussed at community board 3's general meeting on April 17 and was also part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's OneNYC announcement on Wednesday.
Other projects are ongoing at Coney Island, Bellevue, Metropolitan and Coler Goldwater hospitals to ensure they can operate during "future weather disasters," the plan says.
A request for proposals for the project is expected to be released within the next few weeks, an official said.
