Stony Brook Launches New Children's Hospital

Stony Brook University Hospital announced on Wednesday the creation of Stony Brook Long Island Children's Hospital, which is slated to become Long Island's only dedicated children's hospital in Suffolk County.

Steven Strongwater, the hospital's CEO, said the children's hospital represents an $80 million investment in facilities, programs, and recruitment.

"We see our role as a resource in the community," Strongwater said. "We recognized that there was something missing. That something was a children's hospital."

Stony Brook Children's will be housed within the main hospital while plans are developed for its own facility in the future, according to a hospital release.

The children's hospital is expected to expand and enhance the hospital's current programs and facilities, which include a pediatric emergency room, a pediatric cardiology program, a cystic fibrosis center, and the Cody Center for Autism and Development Disabilities. The hospital's existing facilities include 100 pediatric beds and employs over 100 pediatric faculty members in 30 different specialities.

Parents praised the hospital's decision to launch Stony Brook Children's.

Melissa Pendergast-Scali, whose son Patrick underwent several surgeries at Stony Brook as treatment for Hirschsprung's disease, said Patrick would not be alive today had it not been for the excellent care he received at the hospital.

"It's so imperative that children be given a place to go," she said.

The children's hospital is Stony Brook University Hospital's third expansion this year. In June, the hospital broke ground on a 10,000-square-foot psychiatric emergency annex, which will provide comprehensive round-the-clock care. It also cut the ribbon on its Pediatric Emergency Department in April.