announced Monday — thanks to a $5 million gift from the Audrey & Martin Gruss Foundation — it will open a new heart and stroke facility for treating cardiovascular disease and emergencies.
The Audrey and Martin Gruss Heart and Stroke Center, as it will be called to recognize and thank the donors, will consolidate the hospital's existing cardiovascular programs and services and add a number of new sophisticated techniques and technologies, according to a hospital statement.
The new center will cut down the travel time it currently takes to get to such a facility, with the nearest currently being at Stony Brook University Medical Center, which can be a two-hour trip from the East End during the busy summer months, the hospital noted.
“It is well-known that the over-50 age group has the highest probability of experiencing a stroke or heart attack," said Audrey Gruss, the president of the Audrey & Martin Gruss Foundation. “With many of us spending months or weekends year-round in Southampton and the East End, Martin and I felt it was important that our local hospital have the capability to conduct stroke and vascular distress intervention.”
Southampton Hospital President and CEO called the creation of the heart and stroke center "transformational."
"[I]t will significantly advance the hospital’s ability to diagnose and treat stroke and cardiovascular disease, and become a vital component of the care provided by our community hospital,” Chaloner said. “This timely and important initiative will undoubtedly save lives.”
According to the hospital, the center will offer immediate stroke treatment and carotid stents, and include a newly constructed advanced endovascular surgical suite for interventional treatment of stroke and vascular disease, including imaging technology in the sterile environment of the operating room. There will also be a noninvasive cardiovascular suite for diagnosis of coronary and vascular illness, and an advanced heart and stroke monitoring center to provide connections to tertiary and open-heart centers. And to train healthcare professionals, there will be a center for stroke and heart simulation.
Gruss added, “We are gratified by this addition to Southampton Hospital, knowing that our family and friends will be able to get the heart and stroke medical care they need, when and where they need it,” Gruss said.
