Ribbon cutting held for Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital in Brooklyn
NEW YORK -- Fanfare and confetti marked the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital in Coney Island.
It is the first new public hospital in the city since 1982.
"It is fundamentally a place of hope, a place of healing. It is an acknowledgement of the vibrancy of the people who live in South Brooklyn and our firm commitment to their health care for the next 100 years," said Svetlana Lipyanskaya, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health.
The new hospital was funded by nearly $1 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Named after the late Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's granddaughter, Clara Spera, called her a proud product of Brooklyn.
"She was also a proud and thankful beneficiary of the public institutions that shaped her," Spera said. "It is only fitting that a public institution such as this one bear her name."
Conceived in the wake of the flooding, damage, and havoc brought on by Superstorm Sandy a decade ago, the storm-resilient design includes a flood wall, an elevated emergency department, and critical infrastructure housed on the fifth floor.
"I want to talk about the time during Sandy when there were ambulances going to Coney Island and bringing patients to Woodhull Hospital, where I am from, in Williamsburg," recalled Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. "We can never let that happen again...Coney Island and the folks in South Brooklyn will always have a home, no matter the circumstance, no matter the disaster."
The 11-story facility doubles the hospital's emergency department capacity, allows for robotic surgery, and features 80 single rooms and a dedicated space for behavioral health patients.
"The quality is definitely going to be improved because now we can focus on one patient in one room, so definitely our nursing team is very excited for this big change," said Manjiner Kaur, chief nursing officer at the campus.
The hospital will serve South Brooklyn and neighboring communities.
Doors are set to open to patients this Sunday.
