Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center



Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center (SVCMC), locally referred to simply as "St. Vincent's" or "St. Vinnie's", is a major teaching hospital in New York City.

It consists of two hospital buildings and several outpatient facilities, has over 1000 affiliated physicians, including 70 full-time and 300 voluntary attending physicians, and trains more than 300 residents and fellows. It is the designated provider for New York and New Jersey members of the US Department of Defense Health Plan. St. Vincent's was the primary admitting hospital for those injured in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.

Facilities

 * St. Vincent's Hospital (Manhattan) is a 758-bed tertiary care teaching hospital, which is on the border of Greenwich Village and Chelsea. It includes:
 * A Level I Trauma Center and Critical Care Center,
 * A Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center,
 * A Level III Neonatal ICU,
 * A Comprehensive Cancer Center,
 * A Comprehensive HIV Center, and
 * A full service emergency department.
 * Inpatient and outpatient psychiatric and addiction services
 * St. Vincent's Hospital (Westchester), a behavioral health facility, is in Harrison, NY.
 * 3 skilled nursing facilities, including
 * Bishop Mugavero Center for Geriatric Care in Brooklyn,
 * Holy Family Home in Brooklyn, and
 * St. Elizabeth Ann's Health Care & Rehabilitation Center in Staten Island.
 * Pax Christi Hospice in Staten Island.
 * SVCMC Home Health Agency, a comprehensive home care service providing care in all five boroughs of New York City.
 * Several outpatient medical and substance abuse treatment centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester and the Bronx.

History
St. Vincent's Hospital (Manhattan) has served as a medical facility for more than 150 years. Its namesake is St. Vincent de Paul, a sixteenth-century French monk. He founded the Sisters of Charity, an order of Roman Catholic nuns that focuses on care for the poor, best known for their idiosyncratic "Flying Nun" habits. In 1849, four order nuns were dispatched to New York City on instructions from their Mother Superior Elizabeth Ann Seton to set up one of the only charity hospitals in the city. What began as a humble 30-bed hospital in a small brick house on 13th Street of Greenwich Village has expanded over time to become a major medical and research center. It has maintained its connection to the Roman Catholic tradition, and is sponsored by the Bishop of Brooklyn and the President of the Sisters of Charity. Of interest, St. Vincent is the designated patron saint of charities, hospital workers, hospitals, and volunteers. The SVCMC network was formed in 2000, when St. Vincent's Hospital (Manhattan), formerly the St. Vincent Hospital and Medical Center of New York, merged with Catholic Medical Centers of Brooklyn and Queens and Sisters of Charity Healthcare on Staten Island, which included the newly renamed St. Vincent's Hospital (Staten Island), Mary Immaculate Hospital in Queens, St. John’s Queens Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital in Brooklyn, and Bayley Seton in Staten Island. In 2003, St. Clare’s Hospital, renamed St. Vincent’s Hospital (Midtown), was also affiliated.

In 2005, under financial pressure from its charity involvements, burgeoning administration costs, and rising health care costs, the SVCMC system filed for bankruptcy. The system launched an aggressive reorganization effort, selling or transferring its money-losing facilities and focusing development on its main hospital, which allowed it to emerge from bankruptcy in the summer of 2007. In the name of modernizing and restructuring, it also announced plans to build a new Manhattan hospital across the street from the current facility, with a planned opening set for 2011.

Medical Education
SVCMC serves as the academic medical center for New York Medical College. It offers a complete and well-respected residency and fellowhip program, and also serves as a clerkship facility for students of medicine, nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.

Residencies

Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, Primary Care, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Nuclear Medicine, OB/GYN, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Pathology, Pediatrics, PM&R, Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry, Radiology, General Surgery, Transitional.

Fellowships

Cardiovascular, Critical Care, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Hematology/Oncology, Infectious Disease, Pulmonary, Pediatric Palliative Care.

Allied Health Programs

CPR, Advanced Life Support, EMT, Paramedics, Nuclear Medicine Technology.

Mission
Drawing on its Roman Catholic heritage, SVCMC focuses on patient-focused healthcare, with a special emphasis on care for the poor and disenfrachised.

"Respect: The basic dignity of the human person is the guiding principal in all our interactions, policies and procedures.

Integrity: Integrity is the consistency between the Catholic identity we profess and the ways in which we act it is that quality of truthfulness, which fosters trust.

Compassion: Compassion is the way we share deep concern, love and care toward each person.

Excellence: Excellence is our way of demonstrating that we can always be more, always be better."

Notable programs
St. Vincent's HIV Center

As one of the first institutions to address and treat HIV and AIDS in the 1980s, St. Vincent's HIV Center is one of the oldest, most experienced and most renowned HIV treatment programs in the US. It provides coordinated outpatient and inpatient primary care and case management services to HIV-positive adults, pregnant women, and children, and also provides HIV prevention services, AIDS education programs, HIV clinical research, and support groups. In addition, SVCMC developed the unique Airbridge Project, which coordinates care for HIV-positive patients who make frequent trips to Puerto Rico.

Chinese Outreach Program

Due its close proximity to Chinatown in Manhattan, SVCMC has had close ties to the Chinese community throughout its history. In an effort to reach this underserved population, the hospital has opened an independent Chinese-speaking inpatient unit, has employed physicians and nurses who speak Cantonese and Mandarin, and has employed certified medical interpreters. They have also opened an outpatient facility in Chinatown, provide a free shuttle service from Chinatown to the hospital, and offer Chinese-focused healthcare services such as Acupuncture and Chinese traditional cuisine.

Cystic Fibrosis Program

One of the most comprehensive and renowned CF programs in the country, the Saint Vincent's Cystic Fibrosis therapy program offers complete care for patients with cystic fibrosis and attracts patients from around the world.

John J. Conley Department of Ethics

Closely linked to the Bioethics Institute at New York Medical College, The Conley Ethics Department has become a leader in the study of clinical medical ethics and spirituality in healthcare. Chaired by Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, the department aims to integrate the biopsychosocial model of healthcare within the SVCMC system.

Elizabeth Ann Seton Chapel

Because the hospital was built up around a pre-existing house of worship, today it boasts one of the largest and most ornate hospital chapels in the country. The Elizabeth Ann Seton Chapel is nestled in the center of the Saint's Vincent's Hospital (Manhattan), and offers daily Mass and refuge for patients and hospital staff.

Hospital Pet Care Program

Responding to the unique needs of an urban population, SVCMC instituted a program to help patients provide for the pets during their stay in the hospital. Animals are either walked and fed while they stay at home, or are relocated to care facilities or short-term foster homes.