NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso broke ground on a $20M renovation to the hospital’s labor and birthing suite on August 21. $11M is supported through the Brooklyn borough president.
This renovation will bring a new family comfort space to support mother’s partner and family, and for the first time birthing center rooms will be equipped with birthing tubs for hydrotherapy during labor. In addition, a renovated and reorganized recovery area, nurse station and medicine room will promote better collaboration across the midwifery, nursing, and physician teams.
The renovations are estimated to be completed in the fall of 2027.
Image courtesy of: NYC Health + Hospitals
“At NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, we are deeply committed to ensuring that every mother, baby, and family in North Brooklyn receives the highest-quality care in a safe and welcoming environment,” said Sandra Sneed, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull. “This renovation represents an important investment in the future of maternal health and reflects our dedication to patient-centered care. We are grateful to Borough President Reynoso for his ongoing advocacy and support.”
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said, “This investment is about more than new, high-tech facilities; it’s about creating better outcomes, especially for our most vulnerable communities, and building a healthcare system that new and expecting parents can trust. I’m proud to break ground on this project and excited to see the difference it will make for Brooklyn’s parents and newborns. Thank you to Dr. Mitchell Katz, Sandra Sneed, and Dr. Wendy Wilcox for making this possible.”
“Borough President Reynoso’s investment in renovating our labor and birthing unit affirms his deep commitment to maternal health and Brooklyn families. These physical upgrades … beautifully complement the ongoing clinical and operational improvements underway. Together, these changes will elevate both the environment and the quality of care we provide to birthing families,” said Dr. Wendy Wilcox, chief women’s health officer, chief of obstetrics and gynecology for Woodhull.
In Fiscal Year 2023, Reynoso gave $45 million to NYC Health + Hospitals to renovate the labor and delivery units at its three Brooklyn hospitals: NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, and NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health. This marked the first time a borough president has ever allocated an entire fiscal year’s capital funding to one cause, and within one city organization.
When Reynoso and his wife were expecting their first child he’d learned from Woodhull Hospital that black women in New York City face a maternal mortality rate eight times higher than that of their white counterparts. Since then, he has advanced a comprehensive agenda to make Brooklyn the safest place in the city to give birth by: establishing a task force for maternal health, funding a public education campaign, investing in public hospital infrastructure, and making resources more accessible to families through services like the “Born in Brooklyn” baby boxes and community baby shower fund. Reynoso’s latest initiative in this area is a partnership with Brooklyn College that created the first advanced certificate in perinatal mental health to prepare professionals to better support new and expecting parents.
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