South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside renamed to Mount Sinai South Nassau

A new name has been approved for the 455-bed hospital in Oceanside that serves thousands of South Shore residents. South Nassau Communities Hospital will now operate as Mount Sinai South Nassau to reflect the institution’s new partnership with Mount Sinai Health System.

The trustees of both hospitals, as well as the New York State Department of Health and New York Secretary of State, approved the name, which becomes effective immediately.

The Mount Sinai South Nassau name emerged following a study by an outside consulting firm and from discussions among South Nassau and Mount Sinai leadership.

"This new name reflects our new partnership with Mount Sinai while recognizing the long history of South Nassau and its ties to the South Shore communities we have served for more than 90 years,” said Richard J. Murphy, President and CEO of Mount Sinai South Nassau. “While the hospital has a new name, our legacy of serving this community and providing patients with extraordinary health care will only grow stronger as a result of our partnership with Mount Sinai.

“Our patients will now also have access to highly specialized physicians, clinical trials, and a wide range of new services as we grow the partnership with Mount Sinai,” he added.

Mount Sinai and South Nassau received regulatory approval for the new partnership from the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Attorney General and the New York State Department of Education in December 2018. The two institutions announced their plan to establish a partnership in January 2018 after signing a nonbinding letter of intent in May 2017. During the past two years, administrative and clinical leaders have worked to combine the health system’s academic, clinical and research expertise with Mount Sinai South Nassau’s community-based care.

“The Mount Sinai partnership has already begun to bear fruit for our patients,” said Joseph Fennessy, Chairman of South Nassau’s board of trustees, who now also serves as a member of Mount Sinai’s board. “From a patient care perspective, we are seeing real advantages to the new partnership.”

Clinical integration is already well underway, and Mount Sinai South Nassau’s doctors have been collaborating with their colleagues in key service areas, including maternal fetal medicine, interventional endoscopy and pediatric cardiology. The hospital also plans to expand its cardiac surgery, cancer care, neuroscience and colon and rectal surgery programs, to name a few. One goal of the partnership is to move South Nassau from a regional medical center to a tertiary-level facility with advanced medical services so that South Shore residents would not have to travel into Manhattan for most specialized care.

“The rebranding will create a clear and consistent identity with the Mount Sinai Health System brand and reflects a shared vision and collective goal to provide the highest quality of care to patients on Long Island,” said Arthur Klein, MD, President of the Mount Sinai Health Network. “Mount Sinai South Nassau is positioned to expand access to innovative approaches in patient care, treatment, and research to the communities of Long Island.”

Mount Sinai South Nassau is in the midst of a $400 million long-term strategic growth initiative that will transform its Oceanside and Long Beach campuses. Expansion projects that it plans to commence within the next 36 months include construction of a four-story Southwest Addition, a three-story parking structure and a new central utility plant and electrical emergency facility on the hospital’s main campus in Oceanside and a $40 million Medical Arts Pavilion at its Long Beach campus. As part of the partnership agreement, the Mount Sinai Health System has committed a total of $120 million in capital contributions to the expansion plan.

Mount Sinai South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Island’s only free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach. The hospital also is nationally recognized for its nursing care and has received honors for orthopedic treatment and women’s care from Healthgrades, a national independent rating agency.

Courtesy Mount Sinai South Nassau; compiled by Briana Bonfiglio.