NuHealth seeks partners for NUMC redevelopment

NuHealth, the public benefit corporation that operates the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility in Uniondale and four community health centers on the South Shore, has announced its next step in redeveloping its two major properties.
   
On April 15, NuHealth President and CEO Arthur Gianelli said that the corporation had issued requests for proposals for its 52-acre property in East Meadow and 64 acres in Uniondale. NuHealth is seeking private investment partners for projects with an estimated combined cost of about $600 million.
   
Though NuHealth is often described as a “safety net” hospital that provides medical care to the low-income populations on the South Shore, Gianelli emphasized that that image must change as the federal government institutes health care reform. “We are in very challenging times — the economy is very challenging and health care is very challenging,” he said. “We have to think about how we, as the NuHealth system, transform ourselves from a safety net facility to a facility that is vibrant and thrives post-health care reform. We need to figure out how we as a system can support, even more than we do currently, the local economy.”
    
In East Meadow, the plan calls for a “village for healthy living,” which would include an ambulatory surgery unit, a cancer center, wellness centers, other medical offices and parking structures.
   
“We want to create things that are otherwise not accessible to people in this area,” Gianelli said.
   
The ambulatory surgery center would give patients access to outpatient procedures that are usually not performed in emergency departments. To enhance its role as a teaching hospital, current resident housing would be renovated and new living areas would be constructed. There would also be space for the community, including a lawn for outdoor activities and exercise, meeting areas, and other health and fitness-related services.