NewYork-Presbyterian today celebrated the opening of the NewYork-Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns, a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to providing exceptional, individualized care to pregnant women and their newborn babies before, during, and after childbirth—including advanced care for high-risk pregnancies and newborns who require extra support.

One of the nation’s preeminent neurosurgeons, E. Sander Connolly Jr., MD, has been named chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. He also will serve as neurosurgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna has been appointed chief of neurological surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Dr. Ramakrishna, who is also the Alvina and Willis Murphy Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, will now lead the growing neurosurgery department in Brooklyn.

Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian have realigned the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research to address the intersection of research and practice. The newly named Department of Population Health Sciences, led by distinguished health services researcher, information scientist and leader Dr. Rainu Kaushal, aims to improve the health of populations through data-driven research, innovative technology and novel education programs.

Robert M. Minutello, M.D., an interventional cardiologist with a long history at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, has been named director of the cardiac catheterization lab and director of the structural heart disease program at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, where he will also lead the new Heart Valve Center.

The soothing, modern design of the new state-of-the-art Maternity Center reimagines the experience for families with luxuriously appointed and spacious private rooms and many amenities. The Center offers a full spectrum of services that moms and their babies may need before, during, and after childbirth.

With cases of COVID-19 spiking in many areas of the United States, and a greater resurgence expected in the fall, whether and how to reopen schools is the subject of strong national interest. In an article published in JAMA Health Forum, Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian researchers highlight the significant consequences of keeping schools physically closed, and recommend strategies used by countries that reopened and mostly managed to contain the spread of the virus.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is ranked No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in New York, according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals rankings, published online today. This is the 20th consecutive year NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is the top-ranked hospital in New York.