Winthrop University Hospital Opens Research Center

February 12, 2015February 24, 2015 2261 Views Construction and Planning; Bartlett Cocke General Contractors; Bartlett Cocke General Contractors Teaching and Research Laboratory, Eastern U.S., Landing Page Panel Ad, Level 10 Construction, March/April 2009, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of San Diego

MINEOLA, N.Y. — Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola recently celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the grand opening of its new research and academic center. The ceremony was held on Feb. 5.

The 95,000-square-foot translational research and academic facility was designed by New York-based Perkins Eastman. It will house state-of-the art research in the treatment and prevention of pediatric and adult diabetes. The research and academic center includes core laboratories, a clinical trial center and classrooms for medical students who reside at Winthrop as part its role as a teaching hospital and a clinical campus for the Stony Brook School of Medicine.

In addition to research on as diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic complications, Winthrop’s Research Institute will focus on other health issues, including reducing premature births and treating conditions related to aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease and arthritis.

“Perkins Eastman has been privileged to continue our longstanding history with Winthrop-University Hospital by designing the new Research and Academic Center, a building that will serve the surrounding community and the larger medical community in its groundbreaking research,” said Evan Weremeychik, a principal at Perkins Eastman, in a statement. “We are proud to have designed a building that will both serve as a gateway to Mineola and an organizer for the bustling periphery of the Winthrop-University Hospital academic health center campus.”

As a translational research center, the building was designed to provide for collaboration among researchers. To encourage this type of interaction, the design incorporates an open stair, uniting the floors and giving the building’s occupants access to a third-floor meeting area. The stairs also help encourage exercise among visitors.

The center also features an adult and pediatric endocrinology suite, a clinical trials center, and an expanded simulation center to be used for training. Additionally, the ground floor includes a large auditorium that can be used to host community educational events or medical lectures.

An entire floor inside the building will be used for bench research, providing wet laboratory space, laboratory support functions and an administrative area.

Other key features of the building’s design include an angled placement off the street to boost a visual connectivity to Winthrop-University Hospital and to maximize solar efficiency. The building also has a green roof and a water retention treatment system.

“This magnificent new building signifies a reaffirmation of Winthrop’s commitment to our mission of caring for the sick and injured, teaching physicians, and research. The research and academic center also symbolizes Winthrop’s resolve to ensuring our future and our deep belief that we have a moral obligation to continue to serve the medical needs of our surrounding community—both now and in the future,” said John F. Collins, president and CEO of Winthrop-University Hospital, in a statement.

The center is expected to be fully operational in April 2015.