FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 2, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 35
health
Photo: Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
New cardiac and stroke treatment facility
in Jamaica named in honor of local doctor
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
Local leaders cut the ribbon Wednesday
aft ernoon on a new, state-of-the-art cardiac
care facility at Jamaica Hospital
Medical Center.
The Thomas Santucci Jr. MD
Cardiovascular Interventional Suite covers
6,500 square feet of space within the
hospital along the Van Wyck Expressway
and includes two interventional labs, a
six-bed recovery unit, a preparation area
and viewing, treatment and examination
rooms.
Th e health care space was named in
honor of the late Dr. Th omas Santucci
Jr., a cardiologist and former chairman of
the Department of Medicine at Jamaica
Hospital. He died earlier this year.
Th e facility is equipped with the latest
technologies in cardiac and stroke
care and will allow doctors to perform
more complex and advanced procedures,
according to Dr. Robert Mendelson,
director of cardiology and chairman of
the Department of Medicine.
Doctors expect that admissions for cardiac
related disease will increase by 12
percent and for stroke admission by 11
percent within the next fi ve years. Th is is
due to a “signifi cant prevalence” of hypertension,
diabetes, obesity and other conditions
in the surrounding area.
“We’ve been working on this for quite
some time,” Jamaica Hospital President and
CEO Bruce J. Flanz. “Over the last decade,
the borough of Queens went from 15 hospitals
to nine hospitals … Th ere’s a tremendous
volume of people who rely on us.”
Due to its proximity to JFK International
Hospital, the facility is also the fi rst in line
to provide emergency cardiovascular care
to travelers. Each year, ambulances transport
approximately 2,500 people from
JFK to the hospital.
Th e new facility is part of the center’s
ongoing eff orts to meet the growing
needs of the borough’s population,
Mendelson said.
Santucci’s family, who attended the ribbon
cutting on July 25, described the late
doctor as an “incredibly humble” man.
“His love was this hospital and his residents,”
wife Carol Santucci said. “He was
very proud of the care that is given here,
the training that the residents received,
and he loved to be here.”
“For us, it’s diff erent to see this side of
him and see the impact he made on all
these people,” 17-year-old granddaughter
Ashlin said. “We knew him as a loving
grandfather; but to be here and see this is
really incredible. He’s such a role model
in our lives.”
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz and state Senator Joseph Addabbo
also attended the ribbon cutting.
“Th ank you on behalf of the generations
of families that this unit will save
and provide for,” Katz said. “In a place
where there is a void of medicine in many
parts of the borough, Jamaica Hospital
has picked up quite a bit of that slack.”
Th e new facility will be fully operational
in August.
Presents
In collaboration with the
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please contact facilitators Jaclyn or Debbie at 908 208 6059 or e mail jdagnallsentosa@gmail.com
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