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New-York Presbyterian Hospital's New Ambulatory Center Set to Open in 2018

By Shaye Weaver | March 1, 2016 2:29pm
 The bones of New York-Presbyterian Hospital's new ambulatory care center are up.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital's new ambulatory care center is slated for a 2018 opening.
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UPPER EAST SIDE — New York-Presbyterian Hospital's multi-million dollar expansion is set to open in 2018 with an outpatient center and a state-of-the-art maternity ward, according to the hospital group.

The frame of the 750,000-square-foot building at 1283 York Ave. between East 68th and 69th streets, was completed last week, clearing the way for crews to close the building and work on its interior, according to a spokesman for the hospital.

When the building, named the David H. Koch center, after the billionaire philanthropist, opens in 2018, the top six floors of the 17-story building will have a state-of-the art hospital for pre- and post-natal care, which hospital officials said will be the first of its kind in the tri-state area.

The maternity ward itself, dubbed the Alexandra & Steven Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns, will feature 75 private antepartum and postpartum private rooms and bassinets, 60 private newborn intensive care bassinets, 16 labor and delivery rooms, five C-section surgery rooms, five post-acute care bays and 14 ultrasounds rooms.

It will also be the first in the city to have MRI capabilities and an operating room in its newborn intensive care unit, according to the hospital's spokesman.

The maternity ward was at risk of being cut from the project in 2013 because of a lack of funding, but a $75 million donation from Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation in January has made building it possible, the hospital spokesman said.

“This extraordinary gift will enhance our vital work and ensure that newborn babies get the healthiest start to their lives," said Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine, in a statement.

The new care center will also host offices for clinical specialties such as digestive, cancer and eye diseases, and rooms for outpatient surgery, radiology, imaging and testing. A conference center, dining rooms, staff lounges and a 128-car underground parking garage will also take up some of the space, according to plans filed with the Department of Buildings.

A topping-out ceremony for the new center was held on Feb. 22, where board member David H. Koch, who donated $100 million toward the project, signed the last beam of the building's skeleton before it was hauled up to the top floor.