NY Downtown Hospital is home to a new, state-of-the-art emergency center

In September 2006, New York Downtown Hospital unveiled its brand new, state-of-the-art Lehman Brothers Emergency Center. As the only full-service hospital in Lower Manhattan, New York Downtown Hospital cares for more than 33,000 emergency room patients each year, and in the days following September 11, 2001, the staff treated more than 1,500 people injured in the terrorist attacks.

Dr. Bruce Logan is the hospital's president, CEO, and a practicing internist, and his pride in the new emergency center is hard to miss. In a recent interview, he was eager to tout the features that distinguish the ER from others in the city. "We are constantly striving to improve the quality of our care," he said, pointing out that Modern Healthcare recently placed New York Downtown among a list of most improved hospitals.

Among the features of the new ER are a 20-head decontamination unit that doubles as the ambulance bay; a separate, more private dual unit just inside the hospital's doors; and special panels in the cafeteria that, when removed, reveal the same air hookups and outlets available throughout the ER. In addition, there is a Chest Pain Emergency Unit as well as individual asthma treatment stations and monitoring capabilities for two people in each ER room, giving the hospital the ability to double ER capacity in the event of a catastrophe.

The new emergency center's decontamination unit also received high praise during a recent visit by a military envoy that specializes in decontamination. New York Downtown Hospital staff worked closely with a hospital in Israel to optimize the decontamination unit and integrate the latest technology. Work began on the center three years ago, although the idea of building a decontamination unit has been under consideration for decades.

Dr. Bruce Logan discusses the new ER at New York Downtown Hospital

Lehman Brothers made a leadership donation of $5 million to jumpstart the construction of the $25 million ER. The new center is twice the size of the previous ER and can treat four times as many patients. "As the only hospital in Lower Manhattan, we have an obligation to the community," Dr. Logan points out. "We have to prepare for a disaster of far greater magnitude than ever before."

The new, expanded ER will be able to handle the large influx of residents and employees that is expected to accompany the construction boom currently underway in Lower Manhattan, including the 7,000 to 10,000 construction workers who will be working in the downtown area during the height of construction. The hospital is also well positioned to treat any injuries that occur on the numerous downtown construction sites. 

New York Downtown Hospital serves a very diverse community. On any given day, a patient in one room might be a Wall Street banker and in the next, a first-generation immigrant. The new ER was designed to make all patients as comfortable as possible. For example, because the hospital draws many of its patients from Chinatown, no room has the number four in its designation because the Chinese phonetic synonym of four is "death."

In order to continue to rebound from 9/11, New York Downtown Hospital has submitted a proposal to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation requesting approximately $10 million in funding. "We hope in [the LMDC's] wisdom they realize what a vital asset to the community we are and how financially impacted we were by 9/11," Logan says. "I always want to strive to be better."