Contact:
Jennifer Choi
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
NYU Medical Center
Tel: 212-404-3555
E-mail: Jennifer.Choi@nyumc.org

New Ambulatory Heart Center at NYU Medical Center

New York, NY, July 27, 2006 – NYU Medical Center is planning a $160 million facilities project to build new features and enhance the existing infrastructure of Tisch Hospital. One of the major components of the plan will be to create a new ambulatory heart center which is scheduled to open by January 2008.

Currently, NYU Medical Center offers state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment procedures in cardiovascular care including cardiac and vascular surgery, interventional cardiology, stereotactic electrophysiology, non-invasive cardiac and vascular testing, and 64-Slice CT scanning. However, as more procedures become simplified through advancements in minimally invasive technology, NYU Medical Center has moved forward to transform its existing cardiac and vascular center into an even larger center that will become the core base for all ambulatory heart diagnosis and treatment at NYU Medical Center. This new center will cost approximately $30 million to build and will consolidate all ambulatory heart testing and procedures including nuclear cardiovascular testing, echocardiography, cardiac catheterization and interventional cardiology, and 64-Slice CT heart scanning in one location.

Bringing these procedures to the new center will also allow NYU Medical Center to serve more patients in the existing treatment facilities. For example, while the Medical Center performs 3,000 interventional cardiology procedures currently, with the new heart center, the number is expected to rise by an additional 2,000 procedures. A 32 bed short stay unit will also be built in the new heart center to specifically accommodate ambulatory heart treatment patients. With this expansion, the total square footage of the ambulatory heart center will exceed 40,000 square feet.

To further enhance patient care and convenience, the new heart center will be only just a short elevator ride away from NYU Medical Center’s Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation Center where over 1,000 patients annually are cared for by an integrated team of cardiologists, physiatrists, nurses, therapists, and nutritionists.

Other components of NYU Medical Center’s plan that will span over a period of three years include building a new ambulatory surgery center on 38th Street and 1st Avenue which will create four surgical suites that will allow for 4,000 more ambulatory procedures in areas including breast surgery, bariatric surgery, orthopedic surgery, vascular surgery, and general surgery. Other improvements scheduled include the expansion of surgical suites, renovation of the critical care unit, and expansion of the emergency department.

###