CENTEREACH, N.Y.—Simone Healthcare Development and Catholic Health joined with officials from the Town of Brookhaven to celebrate the opening of Catholic Health Ambulatory & Urgent Care at Centereach, a new multispecialty care center featuring primary care and specialty services as well as walk-in urgent care.

The new state-of-the-art center is part of Catholic Health’s growing network of multispecialty care centers, complete with diagnostic imaging, an on-site pharmacy, and a dedicated suite where Catholic Health’s gastroenterologists can perform endoscopy procedures in a safe, comfortable and convenient environment outside the hospital setting.

Simone Healthcare Development, a division of Simone Development Companies and a leader in medical office and ambulatory care facility development, acquired the 63,000-square-foot facility located at 2112 Middle Country Road from Ocean State Job Lot, the largest closeout retailer in the Northeast, in 2022. Simone Healthcare Development has invested $30 million into the redevelopment of the property and is leasing the new healthcare facility to Catholic Health. Ocean State Job Lot continues to own and operate a 36,000-square-foot store adjacent to Catholic Health.

This multi-faceted project was a collaborative partnership between the Simone Healthcare Development team and Catholic Health. Simone’s development team was responsible for site selection, securing land use approvals and managing the design and construction of the façade, site and core, while Simone’s property management team will manage the 10-acre site. The development required approvals from the Town of Brookhaven Planning Board and Building Department and the Suffolk County Department of Health.

Newman Design, as architect for Simone, designed a new exterior that is architecturally distinct from the adjacent retail use. It features a glass and limestone façade, a second entrance for urgent care, and a new glass canopy to provide a covered drop-off for patients. In addition to Simone’s investment, the new facility is part of Catholic Health’s $17 million project that further strengthens Catholic Health’s goal of making quality healthcare more convenient for Long Islanders and to support many of the unmet healthcare needs of the community. Primary and specialty care services will be offered in 43,000 square feet of space immediately with an additional 20,000 square-feet available for future healthcare services.

“We are delighted to celebrate this incredible transformation of a former retail site into a state-of-the-art multispecialty ambulatory and urgent care center for Catholic Health,” said Joseph Simone, President of Simone Development Companies. “It was a true collaboration between our teams to be able to deliver this first-rate facility in just one year. This remarkable facility is an example of a major trend in healthcare real estate where under-utilized retail spaces are being converted into new urgent care, ambulatory centers and doctors’ offices as expanding health networks such as Catholic Health seek locations that are attractive to and convenient for their patients.”

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As we enter year two of the global pandemic, there have been transformations in healthcare delivery. Practices that were once on the periphery, such as telemedicine and touch-free check-in, have become routine even for many patients who might have resisted them in pre-pandemic times.

At the same time, health providers were forced to quickly redesign layouts of their facilities because of new requirements for social distancing. Post-pandemic, Simone Healthcare Development, as a leading developer of healthcare facilities for major medical providers throughout the Northeast, expect most health providers to convert many of the temporary social distancing measures into permanent policies.

In the short term, social distancing reminders like floor markers and hand sanitizer stations will remain. As health providers turn to longer-term and more expensive social-distance solutions, we will see an overhaul in waiting room design, as providers replace old furniture with seating that is easy to reconfigure, clean and disinfect. Waiting rooms may also expand, as the need to accommodate safely distanced patients continues and many physicians are permitting patients to wait in their cars and call when “the doctor is ready.”

In future construction or renovations, we may see buildings with wider hallways or multiple, one-way hallways with doors or turnstiles that only permit one-way entry or exit. More examination rooms and waiting rooms will become negative pressure environments. The need for negative pressure will require enhanced ventilation systems with new air-filtering technologies.

Despite adjusting to these new realities, many providers face the continuing challenge of consolidating a number of medical practices into one multi-specialty location to benefit patients and medical staff, create efficiencies and provide seamless care. The challenges of such projects are complicated but achievable, and we expect this consolidation trend to continue for the foreseeable future.

A good example is a medical practice consolidation project successfully completed by Simone Healthcare Development for the Mount Sinai Health Network. When assigned by Mount Sinai Long Island Doctors to find a location for a building that would consolidate their many practice units in the Huntington, Long Island area, Simone Healthcare Development took on the challenge. Simone Healthcare led the effort to source and acquire the property, secure approvals for zoning, site plan, and change of use to a medical office building for 5 Cuba Hill Road in Greenlawn, N.Y. Now in full operation, this Mount Sinai Long Island Doctors location will have 200,000 patient visits per year, clear proof of its value to the community.

The consumer push to lower medical costs will also continue, causing a proliferation in out-patient services and medical procedures. A growing aging population is also driving profound change. Today there are 50 million people in the United States over the age of 65. In the next 10 years alone, the over 65 population is going to grow by 20 million people. We must become more efficient and effective in treating this aging population.

As an example, by 2030, the number of primary total knee replacements is expected to increase by 673% to 3.48 million procedures annually, and the number of primary total hip replacements will increase by 174%, to 572,000 procedures annually. As the population ages, more people develop arthritis of their joints and problems with their spines. We are now more active in the later years and sustain similar injuries of younger people. Osteoporosis which affects older men as well as older women, leads to an increase in fractures, especially in the spine and hips. Each year, approximately 300,000 people fracture their hips because of osteoporosis.

To accommodate the growing preference for day surgeries and avoiding hospital stays, the trend toward the “bedless” hospital continues as well, such as the facility that Simone Healthcare built for Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx where a patient arrives for a procedure in the morning and leaves later in the day. Continuing strides in technology and healthcare now require a lot less patient recovery time.

The concept of ambulatory care is taken to new heights with this 280,000-square-foot “bedless hospital” custom designed for Montefiore Medical Center. Located at the Hutchinson Metro Center campus, the 11-story tower includes 12 operating rooms and four procedure rooms, an advanced imaging center, onsite laboratory services and pharmacy, as well as new primary and specialty care practices. From the moment you enter the elegantly designed lobby, you sense a healing environment that provides patients with a positive experience while offering an array of medical services in a central location including primary and specialty care visits, diagnostic imaging and surgery. The interdisciplinary approach to care — with doctors, nurses and technicians all located on the same floor — allows for stronger, easier collaborations and referrals.

Another of today’s most important technology trend is how Artificial intelligence (AI) will transform how healthcare is delivered. He said AI will help increase productivity and the efficiency of care delivery and allow healthcare systems to provide more and better care to more people.

In addition, the huge growth under way in biotech and life sciences will have tremendous impact on healthcare. Outpatient and urgent care facilities will continue to grow, as will the use of telemedicine.

Meeting the challenges of future healthcare delivery requires a close and trusting relationship between developer and healthcare provider and a shared future vision of excellence in healthcare delivery. At Simone Development, we welcome this transformation in healthcare delivery because all patients deserve peace of mind when seeking essential care and preventive medicine.

Guy Leibler is the president of Simone Healthcare Development.

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BRONX, N.Y. — Simone Healthcare Development, a New York-based hospital construction company, reviews architecture trends that best support the current needs of healthcare as a part of their commitment to supporting the needs of the medical community.

To support optimal patient health, the patient must be cared by a skilled and compassionate medical team — however a team cannot be effective without a quality facility to practice.

Hospital architecture tailored to the needs of the community can improve happiness and health of patients and employees alike.

According to Simone Healthcare Development, following these three key trends in hospital architecture can provide for a better patient experience.

First, hospitals must Focus on Functionality — creating comfort and convenience is essential for patients, their family and employees.

However, hospital construction should support functionality and operations first and foremost. The primary goal of any healthcare facility is to maintain patient health, and any new construction should ensure efficiency and patient care as its first priority.

Having healthy and happy employees means having healthy and happy patients, and it’s the responsibility of hospital leadership to foster a work environment that aids healthcare providers in doing their job as easily as possible.

From easy access to cutting-edge equipment, to layouts that create treatment efficiency, there are various ways that hospital leadership can design a building with effective operation in mind.

The second trend is the integration of Electronic Messaging Boards. 

Messaging boards are able to offer both functionality and comfort to patients, allowing easy access to treatment information in the waiting room, including wait times and the check-in process. This helps to alleviate what is typically a stressful experience for patients and makes it much more manageable.

The third trend is focusing on Patient Experience. During hospital visits, patients and their families may spend a significant amount of time waiting.

Whether it’s waiting to receive treatment or waiting for the doctor in the treatment rooms themselves, even the best-run hospitals have a limited amount of resources and employees that often end up stretched thin.

While the wait may be unavoidable, some simple design choices can make the biggest difference when it comes to the patient experience.

During construction, hospitals must consider easy access to food and beverages as well as having outlets available for patients and their families to plug in their devices.

Even something as simple as providing comfortable seating can make for a more favorable treatment experience.

Reports from Simone Healthcare Development contributed to this story.

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