Northwell Health to invest $14M in upgrades to Glen Cove Hospital

Northwell Health this week said it was investing at least $14 million in upgrades at Glen Cove Hospital, while it also plans to shift its small cancer services unit to other health system facilities.

The money is going, in part, toward a $4.6 million upgrade of the family medical center, a $3 million upgrade to the hospital's cooling system and a $4 million investment in electronic medical records, said Kevin Beiner, Northwell's eastern regional executive director.

The family medicine center, a primary care/internal medicine practice within Glen Cove Hospital, will be renovated with additional staff. 

Beiner added that Northwell plans to "turn Glen Cove Hospital into a destination for aging and wellness care."

Included would be more in-depth care for Parkinson's and expanding its inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation facility, Beiner said.

Northwell also plans to implement a palliative care program at Glen Cove Hospital. 

To make room for some of the upgrades, Northwell said it was moving the cancer services to system offices that focus on cancer care, including Imbert Cancer Center in Bay Shore, Monter Cancer Center in Lake Success and Huntington Hospital.

Glen Cove Hospital had cared for about 200 patients in infusion suites  since June, and about 30 percent of those patients had a cancer diagnosis.

The infusion suite also handles patients with non-cancerous hematology issues. 

 "The scope of the program at Glen Cove was very small," said Dr. Richard Barakat, senior vice president, cancer services, at Northwell.

"Cancer care is complex, and at its best it's where there are multidisciplinary treatments," Barakat said. "For instance, with some cancers, treatment includes radiation and chemotherapy simultaneously. You can't treat complex cases like that at Glen Cove Hospital."

The two oncologists based at Glen Cove Hospital will move, Barakat said. One will relocate to Huntington Hospital, the other to Monter Cancer Center.

New Hyde Park-based Northwell Health is the largest private employer in New York, with about 66,000 employees.