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NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia announced today the groundbreaking for its new, state-of-the-art Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center in Washington Heights in a ceremony attended by Former President Bill Clinton. The Heart Center will occupy a 142,000-square-foot freestanding building designed by award-winning architects, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

The new six-level facility, made possible by a $50 million gift from the Vivian and Seymour Milstein family foundations, represents the largest single gift in the hospital's history.

The facility's comprehensive heart care services, coupled with NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia's world-renowned physicians, will make it one of the world's top heart care centers. Patients will have access to the most advanced diagnostic technology and treatments that are frequently less invasive, more accurate, and require less healing time. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is the largest health care facility in New York and the second oldest in the country.

Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Healthcare System, said, "Our new Heart Center will help to forge a new era in medicine, offering patients access to care with expanded ambulatory, cardiology and diagnostic services. By moving diagnosis and treatment under one roof, we will increase efficiency and convenience for all of our patients from New York and around the world. The new Center also allows us to increase our capacity for superb outpatient care, which is a growing trend as we strengthen minimally invasive approaches to heart care."

Vivian Leiner Milstein, on behalf of herself, her daughter, Connie, and son, Philip, said, "We are enormously pleased and proud to continue the association that my late husband, Seymour, and I have enjoyed with this great hospital for more than half a century. We are thrilled to be able to realize the vision of creating the Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center, which will serve as a wonderful home for the entire team of world class cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons that make NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia a preeminent hospital for cardiac care."

"The Heart Center will allow NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital to continue on its innovative path a road that saw this hospital perform the first successful pediatric heart transplant operation, the first robotically-assisted open heart procedure and the first endoscopic coronary artery bypass surgery in the country along with many other breakthroughs in cardiovascular research and patient care," said Dr. Allan Schwartz, Chief of Cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. "The construction of this new Heart Center will allow us to creatively design a facility to house the future of complete cardiac care and allow us to better serve our local and national communities."

Following are highlights of the new Heart Center:

• Outstanding specialists. Some of the best physicians in the world will bring expertise in important areas, including coronary artery disease, electrophysiology for the study and treatment of arrhythmia, and surgical and nonsurgical treatments for heart failure, including heart transplantation.
• Non-surgical alternatives. With a team of expert physicians, the facility will be a world center for interventional cardiology and for the development of non-surgical procedures for conditions that previously required complicated and high-risk surgery.
• Science at the bedside. Clinical experts will collaborate closely with basic science and clinical researchers in an environment for translating scientific discoveries into bedside applications.
• Convenient and efficient access to care. The new facility will be fully integrated with the other buildings on the hospital's uptown campus, ensuring that cardiology services are accessible to all patients.

About Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia

The Seymour Milstein family's interest in health care traces back to Vivian Leiner Milstein's father, Joshua H. Leiner, who was a neurologist and the first practicing psychiatrist in Bronx County. Vivian and Seymour Milstein began their association with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in the 1950s. Seymour Milstein served as chairman of the board of the hospital from 1989-1996, presiding over a period of significant service growth and improved financial performance. After stepping down as chairman, Seymour was the hospital's chairman emeritus until his death in 2001.

Connie Milstein has been a trustee of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital since 2000, serving on several key committees, including the Quality and Performance Improvement Committee. Philip Milstein has served on the Columbia University Medical Center Board of Visitors since 2005. Connie's daughter, Abby Elbaum, serves on the NewYork-Presbyterian Heart Center Steering Committee.

In addition to its $50 million contribution toward the creation of the Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center, the Seymour Milstein Family has donated approximately $15 million in support to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

About NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, which was formed by the merger of The New York Hospital and The Presbyterian Hospital, is heir to some of the major medical breakthroughs of the past 200 years. The hospital was the first to use the smallpox vaccine and the first to open a Children's Hospital. More recently, among many revolutionary innovations, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital was the first American hospital performing heart and lung robotic surgery and the first to use gene therapy for Parkinson's disease.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital based in New York City is the largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital in the country, with 2,397 beds. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, The Allen Pavilion, and The Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive healthcare institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and community service. It consistently ranks as one of the top hospitals in the country in U.S.News & World Report's guide "America's Best Hospitals", and in many other leading surveys. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the country's leading medical colleges: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

The NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System which includes acute-care and community hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutes is committed to providing high-quality, cost-effective, and conveniently accessible care to communities throughout the tri-state metropolitan region. The System serves one in four patients in the New York metropolitan area.