Building What Brooklyn Deserves: Downstate Transformation Gets Underway
By Office of the President | Mar 3, 2026
Governor Kathy Hochul announced approval of a construction contract to demolish the old parking garage, marking a significant milestone in the $1.1 billion modernization of University Hospital at Downstate. This step moves the transformation from long-term planning to tangible action.
Clearing the site makes way for a new hospital annex anchored by a state-of-the-art ambulatory care center, including an advanced ambulatory surgery center focused on cardiology and oncology services. This investment in our community is significant.
Our community continues to face high rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic conditions that require timely specialty care and coordinated long-term management. Expanding outpatient capacity will allow patients to receive diagnostic testing, procedures, consultations, and follow-up care in one integrated setting, closer to home and without unnecessary hospital admissions.
Many procedures that once required overnight hospital stays can now be performed safely and efficiently in outpatient settings. A modern ambulatory care center reflects that shift, offering shorter recovery times, improved care coordination, and services designed around patients’ realities. For working families, caregivers, and older adults, access to high-quality outpatient specialty care can mean earlier intervention, better disease management, and improved outcomes.
The broader modernization plan includes infrastructure repairs and systems upgrades, expansion of the Emergency Department, conversion of double-occupancy rooms to private rooms with showers, rehabilitation of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and construction of the new annex and ambulatory care center. The State has approved $750 million in capital funding across fiscal years 2024 through 2026, with SUNY contributing $50 million annually. The total investment exceeds $1 billion.
These improvements advance recommendations from the Downstate Community Advisory Board and strengthen Downstate’s role within the borough. Modernized facilities enhance patient safety, expand access to specialty services, and improve the training environment for future physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals.
Most importantly, this transformation advances Downstate’s mission to educate, heal, discover, and serve. It builds the infrastructure necessary to address persistent health disparities, expand access to cardiology and oncology services, and ensure that high-quality care remains accessible within the community.
This element of Downstate’s physical transformation will represent visible progress and a powerful example of how we put #KeepCareClose into action for the communities we serve.
Tags: Capital Improvements