Twenty five years after participating in the opening of Schneider Children’s Hospital, former New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo today joined hospital supporters in breaking ground on a four-story, $132 million pavilion to be called the Blumenfeld Center for Pediatric Medicine.

The new 100,000-square-foot building, to be erected in front of the existing 152-bed hospital, is made possible by the support of Edward and Susan Blumenfeld and their sons Brad and David of Old Westbury, NY. The new building, scheduled to be completed in 2011, will feature:

• The Rudolph Pediatric Emergency Center – the region’s first dedicated pediatric emergency department;
• A pediatric imaging center;
  
• A 25-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit; and
  
• A 25-bed Medical-Surgical Unit.

In addition to the Blumenfeld Center, the hospital is nearing completion on the first, $23 million phase of Schneider Children’s Hospital’s rebuilding program, which includes the following:

• A new 24-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to care for babies born prematurely is already open, increasing its capacity to 68 beds;
  
• Finishing touches are being put on a 20,000-square-foot, four-story, glass-enclosed atrium; and
  
• A new pediatric chemotherapy unit on the hospital’s fourth floor is scheduled to be completed by February 2009.

Joining Governor Cuomo at today’s groundbreaking ceremony were more than 200 physicians, administrators, grateful patients, trustees and other supporters of Schneider Children’s Hospital (SCH) and its parent, the North Shore-LIJ Health System. Among them were Donna Edlinger of Garden City, NY, and her brother David Edlinger of Glen Head, NY. As youngsters in the late 1970s and early 1980s, both were treated for leukemia by SCH’s long-time executive director, Philip Lanzkowsky, MD, and participated in the hospital’s 1983 opening with Governor Cuomo. Also participating was Adam Lilling of Manhattan, one of the first patients in the SCH Neonatal ICU after the hospital opened 25 years ago.

When he cut the ribbon on the new hospital during his first year in office in 1983, Governor Cuomo said of SCH, “Children will be treated here, cured and made whole and given reason to believe that there is real goodness and real compassion in the world around them. The coming generations will build on our achievement, expand it and improve it, treasuring the sacrifices you made, remembering your faith and your struggle.” Recalling those remarks today, Governor Cuomo added, “You have remembered your faith, you have made your struggle... and you are succeeding.”

Michael Dowling, president and chief executive officer of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, said the $155 million in rebuilding projects “will further elevate the stature of Schneider Children’s Hospital – already recognized by US News and World Report as one of the best in the country -- and strengthen our ability to recruit the best and brightest pediatric specialists.”

Dr. Lanzkowsky, who joined LIJ Medical Center in 1970, has headed SCH since it opened in 1983 and wrote a recent book about its history, added, “The hospital stands today as a testament to the determination and tenacity of a handful of people who had the vision to establish the first children’s hospital in this region. It has succeeded in its mission to provide state of the art medical care to children and has developed into a world-class children’s hospital.”

Among those early supporters was Edward Blumenfeld, who was one of the founders of the Children’s Medical Fund, which has been supporting SCH for three decades. In addition to the Blumenfelds, other major contributors to the new pavilion include: Scott Rudolph, in whose honor the Rudolph Pediatric Emergency Center was named; and the Gambino family, who are supporting the emergency center’s radiology suite and computed tomography system. Islandia, NY-based CA Inc. also contributed generously toward the NICU and atrium projects.

To finance the $132 million Blumenfeld Center, the North Shore-LIJ Health System is in the midst of a major fundraising effort, relying on the generosity of compassionate community members and friends who, like SCH, are deeply concerned about the quality and availability of children’s healthcare. See video of patients at Schneider Children's Hospital expressing their thanks to donors. http://nshs.wmod.llnwd.net/a1107/o16/news/sch_thanks.wmv To make a gift or for more information about the hospital’s rebuilding program, contact Randee Bloch at 516-465-2551 or rbloch@nshs.edu, or go online to http://support.northshorelij.com/SCH_Home.