Peconic Bay Medical Center receives $5 million donation for expansion effort

Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead has received a $5 million donation from longtime supporters, Thomas and Mary Jane Poole, the hospital announced.

The funds will go toward a new 6,600-square-foot expansion of the medical center’s Emergency Services Department, which will cost $15 million in total to complete.

“Thomas and Mary Jane Poole’s cornerstone donation will help take us another step forward in addressing the issue of access to emergency care in eastern Suffolk County and will help save lives,” said Amy E. Loeb, RN, PBMC’s executive director. “As the needs of our communities grow, our facilities must keep pace.

“This expansion is vital to the quality of service we deliver in our Emergency Department,” Loeb continued.

Thomas and Mary Jane are Westhampton Beach and Garden City residents, as well as philanthropists dedicated to improving the quality of and access to health care throughout Suffolk County.

Peconic Bay’s emergency department provides aid to more than 36,000 patients annually and the Northwell-affiliated hospital has reportedly seen a recent uptick in more severe health cases, such as trauma, heart attack or stroke.

This single donation helps increase the critical care capacity of the emergency department by over 75 percent, hospital officials said

The expansion plans include the implementation of a dual-bay trauma unit, additional cardiac response services, a dedicated pediatric treatment area, advanced radiology capabilities and elevated patient privacy.

“As the need for advanced emergency services increases, this donation will directly enhance the patient experience at all levels of Peconic Bay Medical Center,” said Dr. Lincoln Cox, PBMC’s chair of Emergency Medicine. “People need access to quality health care, and this donation will benefit Suffolk County residents.

“The new space this donation helps create will directly lead to lives saved,” Cox added.

For more information about Peconic Bay Medical Center and its emergency and trauma departments, visit https://www.pbmchealth.org.

_{Top: (L-R) Dr. Amy E. Loeb, Executive Director, Peconic Bay Medical Center, Thomas Poole, Mary Jane Poole. All photos were provided by Peconic Bay Medical Center.}