In Fiscal Year 2023, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi received $10M capital funding through Council Member Marjorie Velázquez and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. Allocated funds will support the replacement of the hospital’s Hyperbaric Chamber and pay for a clinic renovation aimed to expand Hyperbaric Medicine.
“I am grateful to Council Member Marjorie Velázquez and Speaker Adrienne Adams for awarding this capital funding to make the replacement of the Hyperbaric Chamber possible,” said Christopher Mastromano, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi | North Central Bronx. “The expansion of our Hyperbaric Medicine services will allow us to continue to serve our community while simultaneously allowing our facility to be the regional treatment facility for patients needing hyperbaric emergency care throughout the tri-state area.”
“Our public health system is vital in providing access to health care for all,” said Mitchell Katz, M.D., CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals. “These funds totaling over $10M allow NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi to acquire modernized, reliable equipment to better respond to the health care needs of our patients to help build stronger, healthier communities across the tri-state area. I am thankful for the responsiveness of elected officials Council Member Marjorie Velázquez and Speaker Adrienne Adams for these recent allocations.”
“The people of the Bronx deserve a health care system that works for them,” said Council Member Marjorie Velázquez. I was glad to work with Speaker Adams’ to secure this historic level of funding to improve the quality of care and services NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi is able to provide. Investing in Health + Hospitals is an investment in the quality of life for our entire City, and to secure over $10million for a public hospital that serves my community is a real triumph.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need to invest in healthcare and address serious inequities in our city,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “The Council fought to deliver investments that our communities need in this budget, and we are pleased to have secured this critical funding for NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi to expand medical services for Bronx residents. The Council prioritized strengthening the health of our neighborhoods by expanding the budgetary resources available to our local healthcare heroes and institutions, because we know that healthier communities are safer. I am proud to have partnered with Council Member Velázquez to achieve this critical goal for the Bronx and our city through this budget allocation, and I thank her for her tremendous leadership.”
The demand for HBOT has increased at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, with them seeing a 50% influx in patient volume over the past 2 years. Patients are being referred here from New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. The replacement chamber will be able to treat 13 patients plus two staff members, as opposed to 9 patients and two staffers.
Additionally, the new Hyperbaric Chamber will have four rectangular doors allowing patients to walk in and out both sides quickly and be fully wheelchair accessible. During treatment under pressure, the new chamber will be more comfortable. It will feature a temperature regulation system, a quieter operation, improved seating, better lighting, and television for patient entertainment. Computer touch screens will replace the manual controls. Moreover, the expansion of the Hyperbaric Clinic at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi will provide two new examination rooms, a waiting area, changing space, and two new restrooms.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi is the only facility within the NYC Health + Hospitals system to offer Hyperbaric Medicine and the only facility in the five boroughs providing a multi-patient, walk-in chamber. Hyperbaric Medicine specialists are available 24/7 for life-threatening emergencies. NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi Hyperbaric Medicine Service is well-known and highly regarded as the long-standing primary referral site for numerous NYC, state, and northeast region emergency response agencies. The US Navy authorizes the facility as a treatment center for US Navy personnel with diving-related illnesses and injuries. In addition, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi is the designated New York City Referral Center for the Diver’s Alert Network, providing emergency care for divers with decompression illness.
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