Mount Sinai South Nassau Plans Multi-Specialty Health Care Center in Wantagh to Better Serve the South Shore

Ambulatory Facility will offer the latest in cancer care, cardiology, radiology, women’s care, endocrinology – all in one convenient location

Mount Sinai South Nassau, in partnership with Mount Sinai Doctors, will completely refurbish a 60,000-square-foot building it owns in Wantagh and open a state-of-the-art medical facility that will provide multi-specialty health care services and advanced medical diagnostics to better serve the South Shore of Long Island—all in one convenient location.

The new facility, located in a former Verizon building, will provide critically needed medical care for residents of Long Island—including the nearby communities of Roosevelt, Merrick, Bellmore, Uniondale, East Meadow, Levittown, Hicksville, Bethpage, Wantagh, Seaford, the Massapequas, Amityville, Lindenhurst, and Babylon—while bringing new jobs and economic activity to a shuttered site.

The four-story building located at 2020 Wantagh Ave., Wantagh, will bring specialty care directly to eastern Nassau County in a modern and convenient setting that will include the latest in infection control measures in the COVID-19 era to ensure patient, staff, and community safety. The project cost includes a $35 million investment by Mount Sinai South Nassau and the Mount Sinai Health System.

The facility, projected to open in 2022, will allow families seamless access to high-quality specialty care, right in their local community, while providing high-skill jobs and economic opportunity to a location that has been vacant for more than five years. Clinical programs planned for the location include an Oncology Center, a Digestive Health Center, a Cardiovascular Care Center, a Women’s Health Center, a Diabetes Care Center as well as orthopedics, neurology, imaging and laboratory services.

“This facility represents the future of health care. An array of services all will be under one roof so patients are not ping-ponged from one medical office to another while seeking treatment,” said Richard J. Murphy, president and CEO of Mount Sinai South Nassau. “It will offer high-quality specialty and diagnostic services in a one-stop-shopping setting for patients in an area of the South Shore that we believe will benefit from greater access to additional specialty services.”

Mount Sinai South Nassau held an online public Zoom meeting on Tuesday, August 11, at 6 pm to discuss the project and answer residents’ questions. If you were unable to join, you may watch the entire hour-long community meeting here.

The building has been designed with a hospital-grade air filtration system and with space planning guidelines to reduce the possibility of infection. Expanded elevators are to be installed to allow for proper social distancing, while entryways and restrooms will feature touchless and motion control sensors.

The entire facility will be used for medical services. The patient-centered interior design will feature approximately 50 comfortably furnished private patient examination and consultation rooms. There will also be non-clinical space, such as waiting areas and administrative areas, as well as mechanical space. Plans also include refurbishing the exterior of the facility to complement the aesthetics of the Wantagh business district and community.

Mount Sinai South Nassau is being assisted at the Wantagh site by Simone Development Companies, which will act as construction managers for the project. Simone oversaw construction of a similar Mount Sinai Doctors facility in Greenlawn on the North Shore that has received high marks from patients, health care providers, and community leaders.

As a result of discussions with local elected officials and community leaders from the Wantagh area, the Mount Sinai South Nassau team made several changes to its original design plan, including increased parking and traffic flow adjustments to ease any impact on the local neighborhood.

The building site includes a parking area with ample secured parking for staff and patients only. The new medical office building in Wantagh is strictly an ambulatory site with no overnight hospital beds and will not receive emergency ambulances via the 9-1-1 system. There also is no plan to offer behavioral health or drug treatment services at this location.

“This model of health care delivery ensures patients can receive the care they need, close to home, without having to travel. A mother, for instance, can schedule her annual well-woman’s visit on the same day as her annual mammogram and have lab work completed at the same time. And cancer patients can receive chemotherapy close to home,” said Adhi Sharma, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs. “This facility will feature the latest advancements in health care design and infection control to ensure patient, staff and community safety. We look forward to offering our services in this area.”

Initially, the hours of operation for most clinical services will be between 8 am and 5 pm Monday-Friday. Hours on select weekday evenings and on Saturdays may be phased in over time as warranted by patients’ demand.

“This new facility will greatly benefit Wantagh and the entire South Shore,” said Joseph Fennessy, the volunteer Chairman of Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Board of Directors and a long-time Wantagh resident. “Our neighbors will be able to receive quality, comprehensive care, close to home. Mount Sinai South Nassau and Mount Sinai Doctors build and operate their facilities at the highest standards, so this should be a welcome asset for Wantagh.”

Aside from the convenience of providing comprehensive health care at one location, the facility is expected to have an economic benefit. It is located just around the corner from Sunrise Highway and proximate to the Wantagh Parkway and Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway exits and entrances, and Mount Sinai South Nassau officials project that this location will facilitate job creation and contribute tangible economic activity to the Wantagh business district.

Mount Sinai Doctors provides an easy way for patients to take advantage of the expert care Mount Sinai physicians provide, without having to venture far from the areas in which they live and work. Mount Sinai Doctors currently offers services throughout the tri-state area, including in New York City, New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester County, and in Florida.

Mount Sinai South Nassau, located in Oceanside, New York, has been in the vanguard of establishing community-based specialty health care centers so that residents throughout the south shore of Nassau County don’t have to travel outside the region to access the health care services they need.

The hospital’s system of specialty satellite healthcare centers includes the Center for Cardiac Rehabilitation (Oceanside); Center for Advanced Orthopedic Surgery (Oceanside); Center for Sleep Medicine (Hewlett); Center for Urologic Health (Rockville Centre); Center for Women’s Imaging (Oceanside); Long Island Gamma Knife (Oceanside); Minimally Invasive Surgery Center (Hewlett); Mental Health Counseling Center (Baldwin); Center for Weight and Life Management (Hewlett); Center for Prostate Health (Oceanside); Outpatient Dialysis Center (Oceanside); SIBSPlace (Hewlett); South Nassau Cancer Center (Valley Stream); South Nassau Family Medicine (Oceanside); South Nassau Family Medicine (Long Beach); South Nassau Home Care (Baldwin); South Nassau Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Therapy (SMART) Center (Oceanside); South Nassau Primary Medical Care (Bellmore); and Wound Care Center (Oceanside).

About Mount Sinai South Nassau
The Long Island flagship hospital of the Mount Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai South Nassau is designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care. Mount Sinai South Nassau is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,500 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services and operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Island’s only free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach.

In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, Mount Sinai South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies. Mount Sinai South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons as well as Long Island’s only free-standing, 9-1-1 receiving Emergency Department in Long Beach. Mount Sinai South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons; is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program; and an Infectious Diseases Society of America Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence.  For more information, go to www.mountsinai.org/southnassau.