Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso today announced his administration has allocated $11 million in capital funding to NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull to improve the hospital’s women’s health services by creating a birthing center. The allocation is part of Reynoso’s commitment to contribute an entire fiscal year’s capital funding to one issue, the first in Borough President history
Fulfilling a primary campaign promise, Borough President Reynoso is allocating his entire FY23 capital funds – a total of $45M – across the three public hospitals in Brooklyn to help improve maternal health care services that will in turn reduce disparities in maternal mortality rates found between Black pregnant people and their white counterparts. Mr. Reynoso is the first Borough President to allocate an entire fiscal year’s capital funding to one cause, and within one city organization.
“Regardless of intention or passion, one person can’t enact long-lasting solutions without the support of a small army that’s just as passionate and has the expertise to see those impactful changes through. I found a true partner in my fight against maternal mortality inequities in our city’s public health system,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “I look forward to working with NYC Health + Hospitals leadership, specifically at Woodhull and Brooklyn’s two other public hospitals, to ensure my ambitious capital funding yields results in lives saved. I’m confident that within four years, the conversation around maternal mortality in Brooklyn will be vastly different thanks to this allocation and the tireless work being done by our public health system.”
“Every expecting family deserves access to high-quality health care no matter the color of their skin or the language they speak,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “The root causes of racial disparities in maternal health are real, and we need all hands-on deck to stamp out the inequities that have allowed children and mothers to die at the exact time when we should be welcoming a life. I’m grateful to Borough President Reynoso for this generous investment in our hospitals to save lives and ensure all new moms have access to world-class care.”
“Brooklyn is the fastest growing borough in New York City and it has the second-highest birth rate. NYC Health + Hospitals applauds Borough President Antonio Reynoso for his vision to make Brooklyn one of the safest places to give birth,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “While racial disparities in birth outcomes are evident nationwide, our health care system is committed to reducing and eliminating these inequalities by creating safer birth experiences for New Yorkers. The borough president’s investment in our patients and their families will help us further improve maternal health outcomes. We thank Mr. Reynoso for his tremendous partnership and generosity, and we are most grateful for his gift.”
“On behalf of Woodhull Hospital and the community, I extend our thanks and appreciation to Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso for the generous support of $11 million to fund the expansion and improvement of our birthing center. The renovation of our birthing center will allow us to enlarge and modernize the labor and delivery operating rooms to provide a safer and more fulfilling experience for the mother, child, and their families,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull CEO Gregory Calliste.
Capital funding will go towards the new birthing center, renovating six private labor and birthing rooms, enhance the nurse’s station, post anesthesia care unit, and an upgrade of the triage and ante-partum rooms. The new design also includes a state-of-the-art OB stimulation lab and enlarged modernized operating rooms for cesarean births.
“We are thrilled and thankful to our Borough President for the opportunity to provide our community with an enhanced, attractive, family-centered space in which high-quality birthing services can be provided,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull COO Dr. Lisa Scott-McKenzie.
In addition to the Borough President’s capital allocation of $11M, Councilmembers Chi Ossé and Jennifer Gutiérrez, with the support of Speaker Adrienne Adams, allocated $1,776,00 and $500,000 respectively for additional upgrades to medical equipment at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull.