The New Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital Is Storm-Proofed

After the 2012 Hurricane Sandy floods, a Coney Island hospital campus was affected and damaged. After convincing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that it was better to build a new hospital instead of renovating the old one, New York City began the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital project. 

A modern state-of-the-art hospital that’s built to provide services to many South Brooklyn and surrounding residences. Like the former Justice of the Supreme Court, the hospital will provide its services to everyone, fairly and equally. 

It’s also expected to have more amenities than the previous hospital building and thus provide better services. As the senior associate facilities director, Daniel Collins, said, it looks more than just a city hospital. 

The Official Opening of the Ruth Bader Hospital

The last time a hospital was opened in and around South Brooklyn was in 1982. In 2018, New York City began building a NYC Health + Hospital. This project was funded by $923 million from FEMA.

With this development, individuals can take advantage of an online nursing PhD program open in New York to develop their careers further and get better positions from this institution. More staff members are getting employed, and others are promoted as more spaces have opened up in this city hospital. 

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) supervised its design and construction.  

After its completion in 2023, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Tuesday, the 2nd of May. The Ruth Bader Hospital officially opened to patients on Sunday, the 7th of May.

The Main Reasons for Building the Hospital in South Brooklyn

When Superstorm Sandy hit the Coney Island hospital, the ER was damaged to the point of having to evacuate patients. Hence the new hospital is storm-proofed. It was built to ensure a solid and reliable medical facility in South Brooklyn.

If the storm hits again, this building will remain standing and provide its services to the public. It’ll also be able to attend to some affected by floods and other disasters.  

Why It’s Named After Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsberg wasn’t only an iconic judge but she was born and bred in Brooklyn. She also used and benefited from public hospitals, schools, libraries, and other institutions. As an iconic law professional who grew up in this area, authorities saw it fit to honor her by putting her name on this public institution.

On top of that, she fought tirelessly for access to quality healthcare services. Hence the hospital authorities have promised to stay true to what the former Justice fought for. It’s expected to eliminate the injustices and inequality in its provision of health care services.

Ruth is well known for her fight for fairness and justice – this NYC Health + Hospital will carry on the tradition of serving everyone regardless of their finances and immigration status. 

Features and Benefits of This New Hospital

If you’ve seen the pictures, videos, or have already visited the hospital, then you know it’s appealing. However, is it as good as it looks? The state of New York decided to build a new health institution instead of renovating the previous one to improve its facilities. 

It has built additional health rooms, added more practices, and made space to take in more patients. Below are some of the features and benefits of the hospital:

• It’s storm resilient.
• Has a flood-proofed emergency room
• Private patient rooms
• Quality hospital equipment
• It features a seven-foot-tall bronze statue of the legendary US Supreme Court Justice.
• It has a four-foot wall built to withstand a 500-year storm. The wall is flood-proofed and has cooling, heating, and water systems. 
• There’s a surgical suite with eight modern operating rooms.
• Robotic surgery
• Inpatient dialysis
• 80 private medical-surgical beds
• 60 health beds with panoramic views of Brooklyn and the New York City skyline
• Diagnostic and interventional radiology
• Clinical laboratories
• Two enormous generators that’ll keep the hospital running in a blackout

Since the budgeted funds for building this institution were used to rebuild the health campuses destroyed by Superstorm Sandy, it’s bigger and better now. It’ll thus be of service to over a million New York residents.

Also, the campus’ Main Building will be renovated and renamed Health and Wellness Institute. This part of the hospital will have a 26,000-square-foot ambulatory care practice with more than 50 exam rooms.

The Bottom Line

South Brooklyn and surrounding areas deserve the new beautiful Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital. This is significantly more so after the 2012 flood experience. Moreover, the development of equipment and the addition of patient rooms will help ensure providing quality healthcare. Of course, doing this the way Justice Bader had imagined is a cherry on top.

It’s great that New York City and partnering institutions have built a state-of-the-art hospital. It’s even more significant that it promises to serve and be for the people.