Westchester Medical Center

Westchester Medical Center
Geography
Location 1800 Orleans Street, Valhalla, NY, United States
Coordinates 41°05′10″N 73°48′20″W / 41.086133°N 73.8054204°W
Organization
Funding Non-profit hospital
Hospital type Acute Care
Affiliated university New York Medical School
Services
Emergency department Regional Trauama Center
Helipad FAA LID: 7NK8
Beds 652
History
Founded 1977
Links
Website www.westchestermedicalcenter.com
Lists Hospitals in the United States

Westchester Medical Center University Hospital (WMC) is a 652-bed Regional Trauma Center [1] providing health services to residents of the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut. It is known for having one of the highest case mix index rates of all hospitals in the United States.[2]

Westchester Medical Center is the primary academic medical center and University Hospital of New York Medical College. Many of New York Medical College’s faculty provide patient care, teach, and conduct research at the adjacent campus. The Center also offers roadside-to-bedside seminars to healthcare professionals and first responders throughout the year, providing them with information on topics like stroke treatments, transporting critical patients or organ transplants. Westchester Medical Center provides diverse specialty services through its six "Centers of Excellence", hosts one of the leading Kidney and Liver transplant programs in New York, and is home to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, the only all-specialty children's hospital in the region.

History

Originally purchased in 1915, the site which would eventually become Westchester Medical Center was first used as a United States Army Hospital during World War I. In 1920, the Army turned the hospital over to the Westchester County Government who them renamed it Grasslands Hospital. In the 1920s and 1930s, Grasslands Hospital specialized in treating adults and children with Tuberculosis, Polio, Scarlet Fever, and Diphtheria but later became known for its cardiovascular services and became one of the first public institutions to establish a Renal Dialysis Unit. Grasslands Hospital was closed in 1977 to make way for its modern replacement, the newly built regional academic medical center known as Westchester Medical Center. In 1998, Westchester Medical Center became an independent institution after breaking away from the county government.

Clinical and speciality services

With more than 900 physicians practicing a wide range of specialties from Cardiology to Trauma, Westchester Medical Center provides medical care to all patients through its six "Centers of Excellence":

Quick facts

Westchester Medical Center is home to the region’s largest biomedical research site and only:

Awards and recognitions

Milestones

MRI patient death

In July 2001, 6-year-old Michael Colombini was undergoing a routine MRI scan when an oxygen tank (that it was thought to be made of aluminum, actually it was made of steel) was improperly brought into the MRI room. The extremely large magnetic field of the MRI machine pulled the ferrous metal tank into the machine's core with great speed and force, killing the boy.[10][11][12]

References

External links