East Hampton ER construction starts this month

Construction on a 22,000-square-foot, free-standing emergency room in East Hampton will begin this month, according to the Southampton Hospital Association.

The Stony Brook Medicine East Hampton Satellite Emergency Department will provide expanded access to health care for residents and visitors of the easternmost portion of the South Fork. The facility, originally slated for completion in late 2023, now is expected to be built by summer 2024.

Residents in the East Hampton area have expressed concerns for years about the time and distance to reach the nearest hospital during emergencies, especially during high-traffic periods, according to town and hospital officials.

The separate plan to relocate Stony Brook Southampton Hospital farther west to the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University would add to the distance. That plan, delayed by the pandemic, is about four to five years from completion.

Downtown Montauk is more than 26 miles from the current hospital location. The East Hampton facility will cut that distance in half.

East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc told Newsday that ambulance crews can get tied up for hours while battling traffic to transport patients.

"Ensuring access to quality health care for our residents and visitors has long been a priority and we have been pleased to partner with Southampton Stony Brook Hospital to achieve this goal," he said. 

A spokesperson for the SHA, a nonprofit corporation that is raising funds and building the facility, said the ransomware attack against Suffolk County contributed to the approximate six-month delay in the projected opening date. In late December, Suffolk County granted an approval for a wastewater management system for the new emergency room facility.

The state-of-the-art satellite, to be constructed at 400 Pantigo Place, supports Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s “mission of ensuring all our communities have access to the highest level of medical care,” Kenneth B. Wright, chair of the SHA, said in a statement.

The SHA raised $38 million through donors and Stony Brook University is using a $10 million state grant toward construction. But the nonprofit corporation is continuing to raise funds in anticipation of rising costs due to inflation and supply chain issues, a spokesperson said.

Plans for the project date back several years. In 2018, East Hampton Town approved a 50-year lease agreement — which can be extended to 99 years — with SHA that allows the nonprofit corporation to build the emergency facility on the municipal-owned property. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in May 2022.

The emergency department, which will be next to the East Hampton Healthcare Center, will provide services including:

a dedicated resuscitation room , cardiac monitoring capability in every exam room , fast-track treatment rooms for general, pediatric, obstetrics/gynecology and ophthalmology patients , two isolation rooms , imaging rooms , an on-site ambulance, [object Object], for hospital transport .

The facility also will feature rooftop solar panels, a rain-catch garden and native plantings designed to reduce environmental impact.

“This new facility underscores Stony Brook’s commitment to offer world-class clinical care throughout the East End,” Hal Paz, Stony Brook University Medicine CEO, said in a statement.