Health

ELIH celebrates new ambulatory care center

TIM KELLY PHOTO | Dr. Frank Adipietro speaking during the opening ceremony for ELIH’s new ambulatory care center, which bears his name. With him is Thomas Murray, chairman of the hospital’s board of directors.
With a quick snip from a pair of oversized scissors, officials on Monday celebrated the opening of East Long Island Hospital’s new ambulatory care pavilion, one of the largest expansion projects in the hospital’s 107-year history.

Called the Frank J. Adipietro Jr. Invertentional Pain Center, after the hospital’s pain management specialist, the new 4,500-square-foot facility reflects the trend toward an increase in surgical procedures completed on an outpatient basis, hospital officials said.

“The ability to accommodate the growing demand is very exciting for both patients and staff,” said D. Patricia Pispisa, vice president for patient care services.

Within the past five years the number of ELIH’s ambulatory surgery visits has increased by 240 percent to 5,000, the hospital said. It estimates that 85 percent of all surgeries are completed on an outpatient basis, the result of technological advances that allow for less invasive procedures and shorter recovery times.

“It’s amazing what’s coming down the road,” Dr. Adipietro said. “If there’s any technology that can help our patients, we want it.”

The ambulatory care pavilion includes nine pre-op and post-op surgical bays, private lockers and an expanded nurses station.

Prior to the ribbon-cutting hospital CEO Paul Connor said the next major project will be to renovate ELIH’s operating rooms.

Read the full story in Thursday’s Suffolk Times.