Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D) announced last week that One Brooklyn Health, the new health system created as part of the Vital Brooklyn initiative, identified flagship ambulatory care sites and entered into partnerships with six Brooklyn-based federally qualified health centers to form the foundation of its $210 million, 32-site ambulatory care network.
More than $140 million will be invested in these flagship projects, which will be expanding access to a full range of primary care and other health services in Central Brooklyn.
“One of the top priorities of the Vital Brooklyn initiative has been to provide greater access to quality healthcare to residents, and with the creation of this ambulatory care network, we are making that a reality,” Cuomo said. “As the federal government continues to attack our fundamental right to affordable healthcare, New York will fight to ensure that everyone, regardless of zip code, will receive the care and services they need to lead full, healthy lives.”
Compared to the rest of the state, Central Brooklyn lacks access to primary care doctors and other critical mental health services. Recent statistics show that there are only 55 primary care physicians per 100,000 people in Central Brooklyn, while the statewide average doubles that figure. Additionally, there are 497 Emergency Room visits in Central Brooklyn for every 1,000 people, which also eclipses the statewide average.
The $210 million ambulatory care network targets those chronic healthcare disparities as a cornerstone of the Governor’s Vital Brooklyn Initiative. This new ambulatory care network will support 742,000 new healthcare visits annually in Central Brooklyn, roughly doubling the number of ambulatory care visits now available through these providers.
With funding from the State’s Vital Brooklyn initiative, One Brooklyn Health will develop 12 sites at flagship locations throughout central Brooklyn. These flagship locations include:
The Medical Village at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center (KJMC): The Medical Village, located at the KJMC campus in Crown Heights, will be redeveloped into a comprehensive medical village offering a diverse portfolio of outpatient clinical and patient supportive services to meet a range of community needs.
Bishop Walker Health Care Center in Prospect Heights will be completely renovated and reconfigured to expand its capacity and add exam rooms, with a particular focus on women’s and children’s health. As part of this project, there will investments in new equipment, including digital mammography equipment and replacement of two end-of-life x-ray suites. In addition, Bishop Walker will develop aIntegrated Women’s and Teen Health Center that will provide comprehensive services, including Internal Medicine, Nutrition, Gynecology, Breast Care Center, Family Planning and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Services, Adolescent Medicine and Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The Medical Village at Brooklyn Developmental Center (BDC) in East New York will include a new, state of the art, comprehensive ambulatory surgery and imaging center that will be developed in conjunction with the new affordable housing that will be located at BDC. The preliminary design of this comprehensive center includes two operating rooms, two endoscopy suites, plus imaging capacity provided by a state-of-the-art MRI, CT scanner, as well as imaging capacity for routine needs, including two x-ray units, one ultrasound unit, one mammography system and bone density scanner.
Pierre Toussaint Health Center in Crown Heights will renovate 2,500 square feet of underutilized space to increase primary care capacity, improve patient flow and patient experience, and increase demand for OBHS’ full continuum of primary, specialty and inpatient care.
Old Bristol Women & Child Health in East New York will be fully renovated and reopened to provide a broad range of women’s and children’s health services, importantly including developmental pediatric services. Services will be relocated from the Brookdale hospital campus and expanded to provide a broad range of integrated services.
The Brownsville Multi-Service Center, 592 Rockaway Avenue, will get $10.3 million to create a new 50,000 square-foot state-of-the-art health clinic.
The Bed-Stuy Family Health Center will open a new 5,000 square-foot Primary Care satellite site in a medically underserved Brooklyn neighborhood, and increase community access to family medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, chronic care management and rotating specialty care as needed.
Brightpoint Health will transform at least 10,000 square-feet of its Alpha School Facility to better address chronic health conditions, and improve the patient experience including the addition of an elevator and a onsite pharmacy services.
ODA Crown Heights will establish a 15-20,000 square-foot primary and specialty care center in Crown Heights. With support from approximately $6 million in grant funding from One Brooklyn Health, the new facility will provide specialty services including podiatry, endocrinology, dermatology, cardiology, neurology, and OB/GYN. Behavioral health services such as depression care will also be available.
Community Health Network will identify a location to expand the organization’s primary care capacity to include integrated outpatient services addressing both the physical and behavioral health needs of patients in the neighborhood of Bushwick.
The Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center will receive funding to open two new ambulatory care sites in medically underserved Brooklyn neighborhoods including East Flatbush. One site will create a new primary care site of a size to be determined, focusing on community access to pediatrics, teen health, adult and geriatric health.
Several Central Brooklyn lawmakers lauded Cuomo for the initiative and for addressing the healthcare dispairties in throughout Central Brooklyn.
U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke said Vital Brooklyn has laid the groundwork to transform access to healthcare services in Brooklyn. “As part of the leadership of The New York Congressional Delegation, we worked closely with the Obama Administration to secure the Medicaid Waiver which infused $8 billion into New York State in an effort to give life to this vital initiative,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said now members of the community who previously did not have access to high-quality healthcare will not only be able to receive it, but access it in their own backyard. “With this expansion, we will continue to see important strides towards a stronger, healthier community,” he said.
Other Brooklyn lawmakers lauding the funding and initiative to improve healthcare in Central Brooklyn include State Sen. Roxanne Persaud, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, Public Advocate Letitia James and City Council Members Alicka Ampry-Samuel and Mathieu Eugene.
