A Message from our President and Chairman

Dear Friends,

Despite all our years spent in health care, neither of us has ever seen such a challenging environment as the current one. And, as a result, the complexity that our medical staff and administrators contend with in order to deliver high-quality patient care and outcomes has reached an all-time high as we enter the next decade.

In 2009, each quarter brought a new challenge — for our institution and for our community. The year started with the closing of two major hospitals mere miles from our doorstep. Immediately following those closings, the H1N1 virus emerged. Being located at the epicenter of that first outbreak put a great deal of pressure on our already taxed emergency room, as well as the emergency departments of other area hospitals also trying to absorb an influx of patients from the now-closed hospitals.

The second half of the year was filled with economic uncertainty for funding on the state and federal levels. The end of the funding story isn’t written yet, including the impact of what may ultimately comprise health care reforms.

Regardless of the bumps in the road, those of us who serve a community as diverse and dynamic as ours must be optimists as well as realists. We simply cannot allow external conditions to take us off track or limit our team’s ambition or ability to better serve our patients.

In 2010, as we begin this new decade, our plan for the hospital is realistic and, as always, it is ambitious. We will achieve it if we stay focused and continue to have the support of elected offcials, community leaders, and the large number of people who each day choose to come here for their care.

Toward this end, following are several priorities that we want our community to know are our focus:

• The progress on our multi-year modernization program is remarkable. By mid-2010, we expect to open our seven-story “West Wing,” designed to help us better serve patients and make care safer and more convenient. The construction is on time and on budget, which is a great accomplishment in any program of this nature, and even more so in the current environment. You can take a virtual tour of the West Wing by clicking here.
• We must continue to reach new milestones in our clinical programs and outcomes. In the past 12-18 months, our team has brought a number of new techniques, technologies, and treatments to Queens so that this community can gain access to the highest levels of care — right here. You can read about these throughout this report, and our medical staff is always available to discuss these tools.
• We will continue to grow our medical staff and make it as simple as possible for physicians to work with our hospital and participate in the care of their patients, both in the hospital and in their offices. Of major importance is the development of electronic medical record compatibility with physicians’ offices, to include prescribing and access to NYHQ clinical systems.
• In terms of our clinical programs, we continue to invest in building specialty services that this community requires — close to home and work. We know that primary care physicians and internists (and their patients) count upon us for access to high-quality programs, including cardiology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, vascular surgery, treatment for gastrointestinal disorders, the continuum of women’s health services, and
  a full spectrum of cancer diagnostics and treatment.
• Continuing to build on our performance measures in quality of care and outcomes is also a priority, coupled with the level of service we provide to each patient and their loved ones. Over the past several years, New York Hospital Queens has risen to the top percentiles nationally in a number of core measures for quality care. We can build upon this momentum and accomplishment in clinical care to improve each patient’s experience. In 2010, ensuring the satisfaction of each patient, their family, and their physician will be front and center for each of our employees.

Our growth, optimism, and drive to create excellent outcomes, while providing expert medical resources and a high level of service, continue to attract like-minded professionals who share our mission. On behalf of each member of our team, we can report to our community and patients that NYHQ is ready for the next decade.

Sincerely,

Stephen S. Mills, F.A.C.H.E    
President and Chief Executive Officer  

George F. Heinrich, M.D.
Chairman, Board of Trustees

Current and previous Issues of The President's Message
(monthly newsletter)

August 2009-Present