SBU Hospital CEO Carol Gomes. Photo from SBU Hospital
If you were in need of an elective surgery or procedure before COVID-19 and have been delaying it, I want to reassure you that Stony Brook University Hospital is fully operational.
We have everything in place to ensure that safe and effective care is provided to every one of our patients to meet their healthcare needs — whether it’s for a simple outpatient procedure or a more complex inpatient surgery. We continue to follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and New York State Department of Health (DOH) guidelines and universal precautions to provide the safest environment possible.
You can also rest assured that the enhanced safety measures to protect our patients and hospital staff to prevent coronavirus spread also remain in place. Some of these safeguards include testing all patients prior to surgery, having patients self-isolate prior to surgery, and requiring all staff and patients to wear masks and be screened for symptoms.
We also require all hospital personnel to wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). And of course, we have hand sanitizer stations located throughout our facilities, and patients in the hospital who test positive for COVID are separated in a designated area to minimize risk from other patients.
At Stony Brook University Hospital, we perform, on average, 100 to 120 surgeries daily. This includes a diverse area of specialization, including general surgery, orthopaedics, neurosurgery, surgical oncology, cardiac surgery, trauma, kidney transplants, urological procedures, gynecologic surgery and several other specialties.
From the time you schedule your surgery, to pre-op, and every phase through post-op and beyond, our goal is to ensure your safety every step of the way, while our surgical specialists and their teams provide the quality care you need to restore your health.
Carol A. Gomes, MS, FACHE, CPHQ is the Chief Executive Officer at Stony Brook University Hospital.
Investors Bank on Route 25A in Setauket. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Investors Bank donated $100,000 to Stony Brook University Hospital to aid during the height of the COVID-19 crisis.
Investors, which recently completed the acquisition of Gold Coast Bancorp, granted Stony Brook the funds in April through the bank’s charitable foundation to the university hospital’s foundation.
“We want Stony Brook to use this grant to fight this pandemic and provide assistance to the real heroes – those doctors, nurses, and administrators on the front line,” Investors Bank Chairman and CEO Kevin Cummings said in a statement. “They are doing a fantastic job under unimaginable circumstances and we want to support them any way we can.”
The original impetus for the grant came from John Tsunis, the former Gold Coast Chairman and CEO and current Chairman of Investors Bank Long Island Advisory Board. He said he was grateful Investors “is continuing that partnership and that its core values echo what the Long Island communities have come to expect from Gold Coast.”
Since the start of the ongoing pandemic, Stony Brook University Hospital has seen support from many sides, from donations such as this to average citizens and local businesses donating hospital supplies and food to beleaguered health care staff.
“Words cannot describe how grateful we are to receive this grant,” said Carol Gomes, the CEO of Stony Brook University Hospital. “We could not get through this without the community doing everything humanly possible to assist. On behalf of everyone, we so greatly appreciate your support, kindness and generosity. It will be put to very good use.”
I often tell people that Stony Brook University Hospital and I grew up together. The hospital first opened its doors in 1980, as the region’s first academic medical center. And just five years later, I was hired as a clinical laboratory scientist. Since then, the hospital has grown exponentially. And so has my role. Today I have the honor and privilege of serving as its Chief Executive Officer. We’ve both come a long way!
During its first year in operation, SBU Hospital employed 800 people. We now employ over 7,000 and are part of an 818-bed healthcare system. Through all the change and growth, one constant has remained, allowing Stony Brook University Hospital to achieve excellence, including recognition as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals™ for 2019 and 2020.
That constant, the source of our greatest strength, is in the people who work at our hospital every single day and give it their all. And with their expertise, they provide the compassionate care that helps patients heal. If it weren’t for the healthcare professionals who are the fabric of the organization, we wouldn’t be a high-quality, patient safety-award-winning organization.
Did you know that when we first opened, Stony Brook University Hospital was one of the few hospitals in New York State with a nursing staff that consisted entirely of registered nurses?
Or that in 1981, the first kidney transplant on Long Island was performed at our hospital?
The reputation of our hospital as a research center also began to gain momentum around that time. In 1982, it was announced that the discovery of the spirochete responsible for Lyme disease was made by a Stony Brook team led by Jorge Benach, PhD. A decade before, Stony Brook University researcher Paul Lauterbur, PhD, created the first multi-dimensional image using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). His 1971 discovery made it possible to get a clear look inside the human body without surgery or x-rays. Dr. Lauterbur would go on to receive the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
We have so many proud moments and milestones. Our Burn Unit, opened in 1984, is now designated as the regional center for burn care and known as the Suffolk County Volunteer Firefighters Burn Center. In 1988, our hospital was named the regional AIDS treatment center – one of only two in the state at the time. In 1989, I remember watching the first Suffolk County Police helicopter touch down on the hospital’s helipad to provide transport of the critically ill or injured to the hospital from throughout Suffolk County.
At the start of 1990, the hospital was designated by New York State as a Level I Trauma Center. That same year, the hospital opened its Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP), which became another New York State-designated service. All of the hospital’s state designations are still in place today.
In 2001, on the heels of our 20th anniversary, we began to lay the foundation for growth. The different phases of construction, renovation and rebuilding have resulted in a multitude of new services, programs, faculty and facilities that continue to serve and benefit our communities today and into the future.
Advanced Specialty Care, our multispecialty center in Commack that opened in 2017, offers more than 30 medical specialties. Our Medical and Research Translation building, Stony Brook University Cancer Center and 150-bed Hospital Pavilion, which includes a new facility for Stony Brook Children’s Hospital opened in 2019.
And this year, our Children’s Hospital — the first and only children’s hospital in Suffolk County — is celebrating its 10th year, while combining the best practices in modern pediatric medicine with a child- and family-first philosophy.
I can’t wait to see what the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years bring!
Carol A. Gomes is the Chief Executive Officer of Stony Brook University Hospital.
Employees who began at Stony Brook Medicine 40 years ago, wearing red flowers, were honored at the hospital’s celebration. Photos from Stony Brook Medicine
Stony Brook University Hospital has come a long way in its four-decade history. On Feb.14, past and current employees of SBUH gathered at the Medical and Research Translation building to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the facility.
The idea of the region’s academic medical center was an ambitious undertaking, beginning in 1973 when construction began. Five years later, the two iconic hexagonal structures were completed. From there, a yearlong mass recruitment process began in which about 800 people were hired.
Many of the hospital’s first employees didn’t know what to expect or in some cases how to get there.
“They said you take the Long Island Expressway then go north on Nicolls Road and when you get to the Star Wars set you’ll know you’re there,” said Lawrence Hurst, professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedics at the Renaissance School of Medicine.
Hurst came to SBU in 1979 with the intent of being the hospital’s firsthand surgeon.
An attendee looks at a time line display. Photos from Stony Brook Medicine
“It was an exciting adventure, the opportunity to become the first in a specialty was something I couldn’t pass up,” he said. “I was lucky enough to take full advantage of it.”
Extensive logistical planning began before the hospital opened the following year.
“When we came here, there were no patients, no equipment, we had a very small group of physicians in the beginning, now we have over 500,” Hurst said.
As part of the celebration, hospital officials showcased a video presentation highlighting the facility’s accomplishments throughout the years and included interviews with employees who shared their favorite memories.
Some notable accomplishments included: doctors performing the first kidney transplant surgery on Long Island in 1981; the first Suffolk County police helicopter touching down on the hospital’s helipad in 1989; and in 1990, New York State designating the hospital a Level I Trauma Center. This past year, SBU opened the Children’s Hospital and MART Building.
In addition to the presentation, a time line and exhibit were on display throughout the building showcasing the hospital’s history.
Kenneth Kaushansky, senior vice president for health sciences and dean at the Renaissance School of Medicine, spoke about the reason he left San Diego to come to Stony Brook
“I saw incredible potential when I decided to come here 10 years ago,” he said. “It had a good medical school and good health care facilities.”
“We have become one of the best hospitals in the country, a premier health center.”
– Kenneth Kaushansky
Kaushansky said the further development of the medical school and the hospital over the years has been a “powerhouse.”
“We have become one of the best hospitals in the country, a premier health center,” he said.
Going forward, the senior vice president of health sciences said that SBU will continue to strengthen the hospital network throughout the Island and continue to advance the Renaissance School of Medicine.
“As technology improves, I believe the future of health care will be more geared toward tele-help, tele-EMS and wearable devices,” he said.
Carol Gomes, CEO of Stony Brook University Hospital, said she met many lifelong friends and colleagues when she began to work in the laboratory in 1985.
“I’ve been very fortunate to meet people along the way that have become great mentors to me,” she said. “I’ve been able to connect with them on a daily basis.”
Gomes said as she has progressed in her own career the hospital has done the same.
“We have continued to flourish as a health care organization,” Gomes said. “This celebration was a very special moment for me. I just think about the connections I’ve made over the years.”
The CEO of the hospital credited the facility’s staff.
“The employees are the lifeblood of the organization, they come to work every day,” Gomes said. “Our greatest strength is our staff.”
Gomes said if it weren’t for the staff, the hospital wouldn’t have had the clinical outcomes or the reputation for which it is known.
“Everyone has the same goal … The dedication of the staff to our patients will always remain the same, it has been our one constant,” she said. “Stony Brook has been my home away from home.”
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