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The new Alexandra and Steven Cohen Pediatric Emergency Department at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center opens today, significantly expanding access to the highest level of emergency pediatric care for families in the region.

Located at 166th Street and Broadway in Washington Heights, the brand-new facility offers world-class emergency care to children, including those from some of the most underserved areas of New York City. The new Cohen Children's Emergency Department was made possible through a $50 million gift from the Steven A. and Alexandra M. Cohen Foundation Inc. Mrs. Cohen was born at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (then called Babies & Children's Hospital).

"Beginning today, families will have access to this beautiful, state-of-the-art facility whenever their child needs emergency care, day or night," says Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "We are deeply grateful to Alexandra and Steven Cohen for their leadership and generous support. Their vitally important gift will help us meet a growing demand and transform pediatric emergency care in our community."

The 25,000-square-foot Cohen Children's Emergency Department more than quadruples the department's previous space, creating a family-friendly environment with the latest technology to best care for young patients. One of only three Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Centers in New York state, the facility is equipped to care for 60,000 children annually.

Steven Cohen says, "Alex and I are proud to support the work being done at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. We believe that a child's health is fundamental to their having the opportunity to reach their full potential. As each child deserves that chance, we are particularly pleased to dedicate this state-of-the-art facility that will have such an important impact on the community and on the lives of thousands of children in need of world-class emergency care each year."

"Alexandra and Steven Cohen have given our clinical team the optimal resources they need to provide the highest standard of pediatric emergency care available today, in a truly humane and therapeutic environment at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital," says Dr. Steven J. Corwin, executive vice president and chief operating officer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

"The Cohen Children's Emergency Department is designed to serve as a critical link to our comprehensive children's hospital that treats a wide range of childhood diseases," says Dr. Lawrence Stanberry, pediatrician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and the Reuben S. Carpentier Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. "The new facility will help us to continue to provide the highest level of care for acutely ill and injured children from birth to age 20, while paying special attention to the comfort of our young patients and their families."

The Cohen Children's Emergency Department aims to improve the flow of patients through the department and reduce wait times. "The ED team greets families upon arrival and guides patients to the appropriate triage area to determine the severity of the condition and prioritize treatment," says Dr. Meridith Sonnett, chief of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and associate professor of pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and chair of the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital Quality Council Committee. "A special Fast Track area will speed treatment for less-urgent conditions. The new ED also has its own onsite radiology capability, as well as a dedicated laboratory and pharmacy, eliminating the need for patient transport to other hospital departments."

Compared with the older Emergency Department, the new space doubles the number of treatment bays, all of which are single rooms — providing more privacy, comfort and effective care for children and their families. The Cohen Children's Emergency Department has 26 private treatment rooms, four triage rooms, two trauma rooms and a nine-bay asthma treatment area. Private rooms feature television, movies on demand and Internet connectivity.

Built with families in mind, this attractive and comfortable space aims to lessen anxiety related to a hospital visit. Instead of a large public waiting room, families have access to a group of smaller seating nooks located close to treatment rooms with intimate family reading areas, Internet, a multimedia interactive wall and game tables. Flooded with natural light and vibrant color, public areas and treatment rooms display vivid floor-to-ceiling illustrations from familiar children's literature, and the entryway features colorful murals by internationally acclaimed artist Sol LeWitt. The Cohen Children's Emergency Department was designed by the architectural firm Aedas, with input from the families, staff and physicians who use the space. Construction on the space began in 2009.

The only children's hospital in the New York metropolitan area on the U.S.News & World Report Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll and one of the top 11 children's hospitals in the country, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital offers the best available care in every area of pediatrics, including the most complex neonatal and critical care, and all areas of pediatric subspecialties. The Hospital is the home to notable triumphs in pediatric medicine through the years, including the development of the Apgar score for the assessment of newborns, the establishment of standards for newborn resuscitation in the delivery room, and the first successful heart transplantation in a child in the United States.

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, located in New York City, offers the best available care in every area of pediatrics — including the most complex neonatal and critical care, and all areas of pediatric subspecialties — in a family-friendly and technologically advanced setting. Building a reputation for more than a century as one of the nation's premier children's hospitals, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is affiliated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and is Manhattan's only hospital dedicated solely to the care of children and one of the largest providers of children's health services in the tri-state area with a long-standing commitment to its community. It is also a major international referral center, meeting the special needs of children from infancy through adolescence worldwide. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Pavilion. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area and is consistently ranked among the best academic medical institutions in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report.