Brookhaven Raises Flag Over New Cardiac Center

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – A flag-raising ceremony was held on Sept. 10 at the Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center (BMHMC) in Patchogue. The ceremony, which included raising the flag that originally flew over the United States Capital building, onto the pole over BMHMC that was then illuminated by solar powered flagpole lighting, this then marks the completion of the first phase of the new Knapp Cardiac Care Center. Exterior construction on the new facility is currently on schedule and interior work will begin this fall. The hospital aims for full completion by fall 2016.

“We are not only raising the flag, but we are raising the quality in care,” Lisa Rose, BMHMC board chair, told The Long Island Advance. The new center will care for more than 370,000 Long Island residents who depend on the Brookhaven Memorial Hospital.

The new center is a $60 million, 60,000-square-foot facility that will include four operating suites. This new expansion will now allow the hospital to offer more services on site and reduce referrals to outside facilities. “Vital services that once required us to transfer patients are now in our backyard,” Rose told The Long Island Advance. “A year ago we had our groundbreaking ceremony and less than a year from now, we will be opening the state-of-the-art building.”

The facility will provide advanced cardiac care technology and will allow cardiologists to assess patient information more easily, treating them with medication or surgery if necessary. The new center is also anticipated to be very helpful when treating patients who have suffered a heart attack or stroke.

At the ceremony, President and CEO of Brookhaven Richard T. Margulis said that he is very grateful for the generosity of the Knapp family, the hospital’s board of directors and the benefactors who supported the new cardiac care center. “We want to be the very best community hospital,” Margulis told The Long Island Advance. “At Brookhaven we believe very strongly about family and community and this is today about community, and this is about taking care of our community and doing what is right for them.”

More than 50 people attended the flag-raising ceremony including local officials, community members and hospital staff. “This is so much about delivering critical needs for the people here in our community, and for the need to be able to attract the best talent, the best young people, the best doctors and the best people in technology,” Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone told The Long Island Advance.