NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island, commonly known as Coney Island Hospital, is a public hospital located in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is owned by NYC Health + Hospitals, a public benefit corporation of the city. The hospital is home to FDNY-EMS Station 43, formerly NYC-EMS Station 31. The hospital was renamed in November 2015 as a reflection of its parent organization's rebranding.
History
In 1875, Coney Island Hospital began as a first aid station on the oceanfront beach near West Third Street. Most cases were feet cut by broken bottles.
On May 12, 1902, a small wooden building, one and one half stories high, on Sea Breeze Avenue, was rented to serve as an emergency hospital during the summer months. It was called the Sea Breeze Hospital but officially known as Reception Hospital, an annex of the Kings County Hospital. It had 20 beds and facilities for emergency treatment. Patients requiring more were taken to Kings County Hospital, about seven miles away, in a horse-drawn ambulance.
Rapid population growth in southern Brooklyn called for a large and permanent hospital. In 1908, construction of a 100-bed hospital was started, north of Coney Island Creek and east of Ocean Parkway. With the help of Robert W. Hebberd, Coney Island Hospital was dedicated on May 18, 1910, then a six-building complex. Population growth continued and so in 1954 the two white brick towers that make up the current hospital were opened. In Spring 2006, Coney Island Hospital opened a new inpatient bed tower. By 2011, the hospital became the biggest employer in southern Brooklyn. Hurricane Irene resulted in the hospital's first full-scale evacuation, since the buildings are located in Flood Zone A. Coney Island Hospital was severely damaged in 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy. As a result, the hospital proposes to spend $738 million on renovations, including constructing a new 11-story tower. The new tower is under construction and the completion date was scheduled to be June 2020, but due to COVID-19, the due date is moved to late 2020. The Ida G. Israel Community Health Center was renovated and reopened in 2015.
Services
The hospital has been recognized for clinical innovations in Primary Care, Adolescent Medicine, Nuclear Medicine and Emergency Services. Interpreter services are available 24/7 in over 130 languages, though changing demographics has resulted in challenges for staff. At 371 beds, Coney Island Hospital is the major medical service provider in southern Brooklyn with over 15,000 discharges and over 255,000 outpatient visits. The hospital's emergency department was renovated after Hurricane Sandy and now handles nearly 90,000 annual visits. As part of the upcoming renovation, Coney Island Hospital is planned to downsize to 351 beds.
