With over 87,000 employees, 21 hospitals and more than 900 outpatient facilities, Northwell isn’t only big, but getting bigger, adding programs, buildings, leases, people and locations.
While other providers, such as NYU-Langone and Mt. Sinai, expand on Long Island, Northwell continues to grow rapidly as brick-and-mortar becomes a tool of the trade.
The system, with more than 12,000 credentialed physicians,19,000 nurses, and 5,000 volunteers, is continuing to spread its wings—the wings of buildings—on and beyond Long Island.
“We’ve continued to grow our clinical programs over the years,” said John D’Angelo, executive vice president of central market for Northwell Health. “That growth coupled with demand for our services has fostered growth in the physical presence needed to accommodate that demand.”
Northwell, in 2024, cut the ribbon on its most towering, recent achievement, the new 288,000-square-foot, $560 million Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion at North Shore University Hospital, supporting the growth of such services such as cardiac, neurosurgery, and transplant programs.
“It’s the biggest addition to North Shore University Hospital in many years,” D’Angelo said of the expansion done about 70 years after the hospital opened.
Northwell called the project “one of the most significant projects of its kind in the New York Metro area.” CEO Michael Dowling said it took more than a decade and a lot of “determination to see this massive project through to completion.”
“There’s been a great need for more ICU and [operating room] capacity, “D’Angelo said. “That led to that development, including ICU beds and operating rooms.”
The project was funded in part through philanthropy but also through the system’s capital budget.
“We have a certain amount budgeted every year we invest into maintenance, new facilities and programs,” said D’Angelo.” Health systems in the region, including Northwell, have aging infrastructure and ever-growing demand.”
Skanska USA broke ground on the capital project, which was built with the help of what Northwell called a “significant gift” from Attilio and Beverly Petrocelli.
“Beverly and I feel that giving back to our hospital is one of the best ways we can help our community,” Attilio Petrocelli said. “It is so gratifying to know that this new pavilion will provide lifesaving, exceptional care to so many patients.”
The Petrocelli Pavilion includes 18 operating rooms, including three high-tech hybrid rooms with advanced imaging, 132 intensive care rooms or ICU rooms, and 170 parking spaces.
“The North Shore team was already performing at a high level; we were only constrained by space,” said Jon Sendach, executive director of NSUH and deputy regional executive director of Northwell’s Central Region. “Now our world-class medical experts have state-of-the-art ORs and ICUs to do even more.”
Kings of Queens
While the Petrocelli Pavilion is in Nassau County, Northwell said it serves people from a far-bigger catchment area. About 40% of all patients at North Shore University Hospital come from Queens, while another 5% travel more than 100 miles to seek care at the facility.
Northwell has been expanding on both sides of Nassau County, including Queens. Last year, the system opened a new, nearly 18,000-square-foot ambulatory care center with 19 exam rooms in Fresh Meadows.
Northwell said that it “expands access to high-quality care for residents of Fresh Meadows and surrounding communities.”
The facility, which includes a stress/echocardiography room and vascular lab, “brings new care options to the Fresh Meadows community.” Northwell also moved its previous Fresh Meadows cancer treatment center to Rego Park.
Near Nassau
Although much of Northwell’s expansion is in Nassau County, it’s also growing just outside the county, adding facilities that can certainly serve Nassau residents.
Last year, Northwell Health also opened its Northwell Family Health Center at Huntington, a newly17,932-square-foot facility that includes 28 general exam rooms and an ultrasound suite at 1572 New York Avenue in Huntington Station. It offers primary care services and multi-specialty care for women.
“It’s about reaffirming our commitment to the community we’ve served for nearly 30 years,” said Stephan Bello, regional executive director of Northwell’s Eastern region. “The new location, nestled in the heart of the neighborhood it serves and conveniently close to bus lines, ensures that our care remains accessible to all.”
D’Angelo said that putting various specialties under one roof provides convenience and efficiency for the operations and patients.
“You’re building programs to meet clinical needs,” he said. “You must decide if the local strategy requires satellite offices or a more consolidated multi-specialty approach. We see an opportunity to consolidate and put multiple specialties in one location. It creates economies of scale and ease for patients.”
ER expansion in the works
While Northwell has broken ground and completed major projects, expansion, via brick and mortar and simply by staff, is in the works.
Emergency rooms, even in this era of urgent care, are widely seen as the “front door” of hospitals. And that’s leading to investment and expansion of the ER. The LIJ Valley Stream Emergency Department is being expanded and renovated.
“The volume of patients that the emergency department there sees has grown over the years,” D’Angelo said. “The prior emergency department was undersized. The new department is bigger and can accommodate patients more efficiently.
Triaging patients into low, moderate, and high acuity groupings can reduce waiting time for all patients. But patients aren’t the only ones who benefit. The space is designed to provide the ED staff with optimal physical space to maximize their efficiency and delivery of quality care.
“Traditional EDs have a single entry point,” D’Angelo said. “That’s typically a bottleneck. Instead of a single triage room, we have multiple intake rooms that are staffed by providers who can expedite the initial care closer to the front door.”
What the future holds
Northwell is also continuing to expand services at its facility at 1111 Marcus Ave in New Hyde Park, building a women’s cancer center, several pediatric specialties, and the Northwell Cardiovascular Institute.
“Our cancer program has been growing dramatically,” D’Angelo said. “Folks are seeking their care here rather than going to New York City. This growth creates an opportunity to consolidate comprehensive care for women in the region in one facility with all the right specialists and support services under one roof.”
It is planning to open a pediatric heart transplant program at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, eliminating the need for patients and their families to have to travel off of Long Island for this complex procedure, according to the health care system.
Northwell is also expanding its Dental Destination Center at Vermont Drive in Lake Success to include orthodontics and dental specialties.
Then there’s a reproductive endocrinology and fertility practice at 855 Franklin Ave. in Garden City, and an expansion at 1315 Peninsula Blvd, Hewlett, a medical office building to include REI, OB/GYN and various medical specialties
“We’re at capacity at our existing location for reproductive medicine, and we are investing to accommodate further growth of this program,” D’Angelo said.
