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QUEENS WEEKLY, JULY 28, 2019
Improvements at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital CEO Jerry Walsh. Photos courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
As patients and visitors
enter St. John’s Episcopal
Hospital (SJEH)—the
sole hospital of the
Rockaways—it quickly
becomes apparent that
much is happening at the
facility. The main entrance
leads to a lobby that
features a new outpatient
pharmacy and an aroma of
coffee from the hospital’s
new café that serves select
Starbucks beverages,
food, and gift items. The
liveliness and action of the
hospital stretches beyond
the lobby to the emergency
department where new
rooms and state-of-theart
equipment make
apparent SJEH’s renewed
commitment to providing
quality service to the
residents of its surrounding
communities.
Constructed in 1950,
the emergency department
was initially designed to
treat 15,000 patients per
year, but currently serves
more than 40,000. Much
of the increase could be
attributed to the closing
of Peninsula Hospital in
2012.
The emergency
department project is
in its final phase, and
at completion, will have
expanded from 12,500
square feet to 22,000
square feet. New to the
department is an advanced
computerized tomography
(CT) scanner and top-ofthe
line x-Ray equipment.
“As we expand and
improve our physical
environment, we are
diligent in our efforts
to offer patients care
using modern, advanced
equipment to allow us
to prevent and diagnose
illness in the most
efficient manner,” said
Donald Morrish, MD,
Chief Medical Officer.
SJEH is currently
managing approximately
$30 million in grant
funding, which is helping
fund current and planned
renovation and expansion
projects. This includes
the renovation of the
hospital’s labor, delivery,
and maternity unit, and the
construction of a Radiation
Oncology Center and a
Women’s Comprehensive
Health Center. The grants
were awarded by the New
York State Department
of Health, the G.A.
Ackermann Memorial
Fund, and the New York
City Council through the
offices of Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz
and City Council Member
Donovan Richards whose
collective $4,077,000 in
funding will go towards
the labor and delivery
unit renovation.
SJEH is also
constructing a 4-story
teaching/clinical services
center in partnership
with Ross University who
contributed $10 million to
the project.
“Not only are we
enhancing our clinical
services at the hospital,
we are also invested in
growing our footprint
outside of the hospital’s
walls to meet the
medical needs of the
communities we serve,”
said the hospital’s Chief
Executive Officer, Jerry
Walsh. “Our patients and
community members
deserve great medical
care close to home, and we
are intent on meeting and
exceeding expectations.