St. Mary's Hospital For Children Adds Beds For Long-Term Care

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — St. Mary's Hospital for Children completed a new pediatric respiratory care center on Monday. The $12.5 million expansion adds 21 ventilator-equipped beds to the Bayside hospital.

The hospital had been operating at capacity prior to the expansion, according to a spokesperson, and the need for ventilator-equipped beds is expected to grow by about 10 percent each year. Nearly 100 children in New York must seek care out of state due to high demand for ventilator-equipped beds, according to the Medicaid Redesign Workgroup on Medically Fragile Children.

"Today marks a historic moment in the history of our hospital,” Dr. Edwin Simpser, President and CEO of St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children, said Monday at a ribbon cutting ceremony. "Expanding the number of ventilator-equipped beds will allow us to care for more children than ever, helping us fulfill our mission of serving New York’s most critically ill and injured children."

The project, funded in part by the Kids for Kids Foundation, used 10,000 square feet of administrative space to build the respiratory care center. The center includes patient rooms with two beds each and a communal space for recreation, visits and dining.