ast summer, Winthrop's old Auditorium on First Street, Mineola was demolished. The land was smoothed down, and important political officials and Hospital Board Members, donning hardhats, posed with shiny new shovels at a formal Ground-breaking Ceremony. Soon, workers using backhoes and tractors dug a big hole in the ground; a foundation took form during October; a steel frame was erected by November; and concrete was poured in December. As the first crisp, cold days of early l998 unfolded, an impressive new building was clearly taking shape on Winthrop's campus. What exactly is going on?

Winthrop is building The New Life Center - with 16 modern, technologically superior, and attractive Labor/Delivery/Recovery suites. Physically connected to the existing Maternity/Nursery Units, The New Life Center is projected to be completed in July, l998. Widely known for its high-risk obstetrics program, innovative neonatal intensive care program, and technologically advanced facilities, Winthrop is indisputably the hospital of choice for expectant parents from all over the metropolitan area. In response to an escalating number of deliveries - nearly 5,000 during l997 - the 15,000 square foot, $12 million state-of-the-art New Life Center is being constructed.

Eventually, the existing Labor and Delivery Unit will be converted to a specialized Obstetrics Suite, with examination rooms for the observation of high-risk patients in early labor and separate rooms for Cesarean section mothers.

Choice of Design
The Hospital's multidisciplinary New Life Center Planning Team worked closely with the designated architects - the Ritchie Organization of Massachusetts - to select a streamlined, current, cost-effective design to expand patient capacity, while maintaining Winthrop's quality service. The plans underway reflect the best fit.

To fully explore contemporary design concepts, Winthrop's planning team visited the birthing centers of prestigious East Coast hospitals and medical centers. Site visits included Tufts University-affiliated Bay State Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, with 7,000 deliveries per year, and Fairfax General Hospital, Virginia, which supports 9,500 - 10,000 births per year.

Dev Maulik, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Department of Ob/Gyn at Winthrop, observes that "Winthrop's standard of care has always been of the highest quality, and our patients have been, and are today, fully satisfied. Nonetheless, the obvious consequence of our dramatic growth in patient census is the need of more space. The New Life Center will support our current and future needs, while providing enhanced Nursery Units and upgraded educational facilities for Ob/Gyn Residents."

At the Groundbreaking Ceremony on July 24, 1997, Alfred H. Hicks explained: "Winthrop has one of the busiest birthing units on Long Island, and we have embarked upon the building of The New Life Center only after a long period of introspection and analysis of our needs, present and future. We have concluded that The New Life Center will carry us into the next century."