STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island residents gained more intimate access to some of New York City’s most distinguished doctors and specialists Friday, as Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) officially embarks on a clinical and academic partnership with Mount Sinai Health System.
“This opens up opportunities for Staten Islanders that they have never had before,” noted Daniel J. Messina, president and CEO of RUMC, commenting on the newest segment of the partnership between the two providers that was originally established in 2020. “Not only do residents have access to RUMC’s team of experienced professionals, they also now have the benefit of utilizing Mount Sinai’s emergency medicine expertise. I think this partnership will provide our community with expanded access to the outstanding healthcare services available in New York City in a setting that’s close to home.”
The expanded affiliation, which will go into effect Friday, comes as RUMC prepares to open its new 35,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Emergency Department this summer. Under the agreement, Mount Sinai and RUMC will integrate care for emergency medicine, trauma, and critical care services provided at RUMC’s emergency department; and extend admitting privileges at RUMC to Mount Sinai medical specialists.
According to Dr. Brendan Carr, system chair of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai, the affiliation is aimed at building upon RUMC’s “stellar” commitment to care, and providing an expanded range of elite emergency medical and trauma services to the borough.https://728c32fc862ef0ba72292924ccea4d3e.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
“I’ve become well-acquainted with the team here at RUMC over the past several years during our preparation for this partnership,” Carr noted this week when he and members of his staff visited the West Brighton hospital for a meet-and-greet ahead of the integration. “During that preparation it has become clear how tight-knit this community is, and how intent the staff here at RUMC is on providing the best possible patient experience to that community. It’s our goal to expand upon that patient experience even further and use our resources as a large provider to offer the people of Staten Island the very best in health care.”
RUMC’s current Emergency Department, a Level I Adult Trauma Center and Level II Pediatric Trauma Center, is equipped to handle all levels of adult and pediatric emergencies and has designated areas for triage, pediatrics, chest/stroke care, trauma resuscitation, women’s health and urgent care. Treating over 50,000 patients annually, the Emergency Department is a New York State Department of Health designated Stroke and STEMI treatment center, as well as a Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Center of Excellence. RUMC’s Emergency Department has cared for 9,000 coronavirus-positive patients since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The hospital’s new Emergency Department will expand upon those services, providing 35,000 square feet of space, compared to 15,000 square feet in the hospital’s current facility, which was built in 1978 — an increase of 133%. Occupying the ground level of a new two-story pavilion connected to the existing hospital, the new department will offer expanded emergency trauma and critical care, as well as enhanced specialty areas for pediatrics and urgent care.
Mount Sinai Health System is considered one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education.
In this partnership, the two organizations plan to work seamlessly together to deliver “world-class care.”
“I’m very glad that RUMC has invited us to the table,” concluded Dr. Joshua Kugler, Mount Sinai’s vice president of physician services. “Mount Sinai is a large, world-renowned entity, but we share the same patient-focused culture as RUMC. I think this is the genesis of a truly wonderful relationship.”
