SUNY Downstate - Message about UHD COVID-19 Designation

A Message From President Riley and University Hospital of Brooklyn Interim Managing Director Patricia Winston About UHB Suspension As COVID-19 Only Facility

We are pleased to announce that effective this past Friday, June 5, at 5:00 PM, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) suspended the designation of the University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) as a COVID-19 only hospital.

We are most appreciative of the confidence placed in us by the Governor to serve the citizens of central Brooklyn in this particular manner.

Following almost three months of providing care primarily to patients affected with COVID-19, we are gratified and delighted to resume providing routine care for outpatient, medical, surgical, pediatric, neurological, and obstetrical patients at the University Hospital of Brooklyn.

Note, however, that to resume elective surgical procedures, etc. as required of all New York hospitals, today, we will submit our waiver application with the NYSDOH for the resumption of such services consistent with reserve bed and/or ICU bed capacity and adequacy of PPE stipulations.

We could not have done this important work without the superb skill, tenacity, expertise, caring, and compassion that went into every individual’s treatment and care.

Accordingly, we will proceed with care and caution to make sure that every person who comes through our doors, including our patients, faculty, staff, students, is comfortable and protected. So, please bear with us as we slowly but surely get back to some semblance of operational normalcy.

Over the next several days, you will receive additional information about our return to normal operations in both the clinical and academic enterprises of our institution.

Please pay very close attention to the messages you will see from the Back to New Normal workgroup.

We are proud of our SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University teams of frontline workers and the many others who have provided behind-the-scenes support.

Our ability to stand together in these challenging times reinforces the importance and underscores the critical need for the University Hospital of Brooklyn in the borough, and particularly in our community.

Thank you for all you’ve done to care for our community during these most difficult of times.

Regards,

Wayne J. Riley, MD
President

Patricia A. Winston, MS, RN
Interim, Managing Director
University Hospital at Downstate