SUNY Downstate Medical Center

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "SUNY Downstate Medical Center" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Type| Public medical school
Established| 1860; 165 years ago (1860)

Parent institution

| State University of New York
Chancellor| John B. King, Jr.
President| Wayne J. Riley
Students| 1,846[1][2]
Undergraduates| 211
Postgraduates| 1,635

Other students

| 1,040 residents[2]
Location|

Brooklyn

New York

40°39′19″N 73°56′45″W﻿ / ﻿40.6554°N 73.9457°W﻿ / 40.6554; -73.9457
Website| www.downstate.edu

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is a public medical school and hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It is the southernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care serving Brooklyn's 2.5 million residents. It is the only state-run hospital in New York City.[3] As of fall 2018, it had a total student body of 1,846 and approximately 8,000 faculty and staff.

Downstate Health Sciences University comprises a College of Medicine, Colleges of Nursing, School of Graduate Studies, School of Health Professions, and School of Public Health, and University Hospital of Brooklyn. It also includes a major research complex and biotechnology facilities.

## History

[edit]

2010 was SUNY Downstate's sesquicentennial, celebrating 150 years in medical education.

In 2010 SUNY Downstate celebrated its sesquicentennial, commemorating the year that the Long Island College Hospital (as it was then known) first opened its doors to students. Yet Downstate traces its roots back even further (to 1856) when a small group of physicians set up a free dispensary in Brooklyn to care for poor immigrants.

Known as the German General Dispensary, its original aim was to care for indigent Germans living in Brooklyn, but changing demographics soon required it to broaden its outreach. In 1857 it was reorganized as a charitable institution and renamed The St. John's Hospital—the first of many name changes.

Officially chartered by the state in 1858 as the Long Island College Hospital of the City of Brooklyn, it was authorized to operate a hospital and confer medical degrees on candidates who attended two lecture courses and completed a three-year preceptorship under a practicing physician. The notion that care at the hospital bedside should be included as an essential part of medical training was revolutionary for its time, but other medical schools soon adopted the approach and it came to be regarded as essential pedagogy.

In 1860 the school officially opened its doors to 57 (male) students. It was one of only 11 medical schools to admit African American students. The first faculty included many distinguished physicians, such as Dr. Austin Flint Sr., remembered for his role in introducing the stethoscope into standard medical practice in this country. Dr. Flint delivered the commencement address on July 24, 1860, when the school graduated its first new doctors.

In the following decades The Long Island College Hospital greatly expanded both its facilities and medical school curriculum. By the time of the First World War, admission was opened to women and postgraduate training had been introduced. In 1930 the college and hospital were separated from one another so that each would be under its own governing board. The following year, the school was rechartered as the Long Island College of Medicine.

In 1945, the college purchased a large tract of land that would become the site of the future Downstate Medical Center. The “Downstate” era began on April 5, 1950, with the signing of a merger contract between the State University of New York (SUNY) and the Long Island College of Medicine. The medical center came to be known as Downstate to distinguish it from the SUNY medical center in Syracuse, New York, which is known as “Upstate”. Several years later the current campus was built in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn.

In 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the cornerstone for the Basic Sciences Building. In the following years, the complex grew rapidly, with the addition of a student center and residence halls, as well as a nurses' residence. In 1966 Governor Nelson Rockefeller officiated at the dedication of University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB), Downstate's own teaching hospital. The School of Graduate Studies, the College of Health Related Professions, and the College of Nursing were established that same year. In 1987 Governor Mario Cuomo and Mayor Edward Koch helped break ground for the new Health Science Education Building, where most student classes now take place.

In early 2024, the hospital faced closure due to financial concerns, which would have negatively impacted the borough's BIPOC communities and faced significant delays in accessing healthcare.[4][3] In April, it was reported spared from closure until 2025.[5]

## Academics

[edit]

The vast majority of students are drawn from the New York City metropolitan area. Downstate's Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Related Professions and its School of Graduate Studies and School of Public Health collectively offer more than 30 health-focused programs.

## Patient care

[edit]

### University Hospital of Brooklyn

[edit]

Hospital in New York City, United States

University Hospital of Brooklyn

Geography
Location| 450 Clarkson Avenue
Brooklyn, New York City, United States
Organization
Type| Teaching
Affiliated university| SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Links
Website| www.downstate.edu/uhb/

University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) offers comprehensive, advanced medical care throughout Brooklyn. It includes a full-service, comprehensive hospital site (UHB at Central Brooklyn). It also previously owned a free-standing Urgent Care and Ambulatory Surgery Center in Bay Ridge, which has since been sold to nearby Maimonides Medical Center. There are also nine ambulatory satellite sites. UHB is licensed for 882 beds and annually provides care to over 300,000 patients. UHB is an 8-story facility with 8 intensive care and step-down units, 12 operating rooms, an adult and pediatric ER, diagnostic and ambulatory surgery facility, and 75 outpatient clinics. The flagship location for UHB, Central Brooklyn includes three community-based health centers in the neighborhoods of East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Midwood, plus a freestanding Dialysis Center.

### HEAT (Health and Education Alternatives for Teens) Program

[edit]

HEAT[6] is a program established and directed by Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum which offers culturally competent care for youth who are living at high risk of developing HIV/AIDS. HEAT has a special focus on care for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth but does not limit its services to these populations. The program offers comprehensive clinical services for HIV/AIDS patients as well as sexual health and transgender care services.

HEAT is actively involved in community outreach and Dr. Birnbaum has received various awards for his efforts in combating HIV/AIDS [7]

### Brooklyn Free Clinic

[edit]

The Brooklyn Free Clinic (BFC)[8] is a student-run free clinic operated primarily by the students of the College of Medicine. The BFC offers medical and psychiatric care and health maintenance screening to the uninsured populations of Brooklyn.

The clinic hosts an annual conference on health seen through the eyes of medicine, art, technology and community called BFC What's Next.[9] The clinic has won multiple awards for its advertisement campaigns including a gold medal in conjunction with CDMiConnect at the 2014 MMM Awards for their "We Need U" campaign[10] and a bronze medal at the CLIO Healthcare Awards.[11]

### SUNY Downstate at Bay Ridge

[edit]

SUNY Downstate at Bay Ridge serves the communities of Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Sunset Park. It features a walk-in Urgent Care Center, Ambulatory Surgery Center, Advanced Endoscopy Center, and Laser Vision Correction Center. It has onsite laboratory and radiology diagnostic facilities and medical offices for doctors in many clinical specialties.[citation needed]

## Research

[edit]

SUNY Downstate is an important research facility where scientists and clinicians explore many urgent health problems. Historically, areas of research strength include cardiovascular biology, neuroscience, and instrumentation. Current strengths include GABAergic inhibition, learning and memory mechanisms; pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and cardiomyopathy; robotic prosthetic devices; HIV/AIDS; pain and addiction; optical tomography imaging technology; and fundamental cell biology (mechanisms of transcription and translation).[citation needed]

Downstate's role as the only academic medical center in Brooklyn is central to its powerful role in clinical, translational, and public health research. Downstate's research spans the entire “bench to bedside” spectrum as an integrated entity, bringing together basic scientists, clinical researchers, and practitioners with common interests.[citation needed]

Downstate is the fourth highest grant recipient of SUNY's 64 campuses. In FY 2011, sponsored research programs, including those funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), DARPA, and private foundations, totaled over $60 million. Downstate is the only healthcare facility in Brooklyn that holds the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.[citation needed]

## Controversies

[edit]

In 2013, SUNY Downstate released a court ordered financial audit which found the institution in need of capital funds citing large losses from 2007 through 2011. The audit cited bloated salaries for top administrators, underuse and poor financial decisions contributed to the losses.[12][13]

In January 2020, two SUNY Downstate surgeons filed lawsuits accusing the medical center of retaliation against them for reporting patient safety and death concerns in the heart-surgery and organ-transplant programs. Prior to the complaint, the institution paused these two programs in July 2019 due to pressure from the New York State Department of Health and the United Network for Organ Sharing when reviewers found issues in the programs and recommended a more extensive review in hopes to remediate the problems.[14]

## Notable faculty

[edit]

* Alexander Skene, MD - authority on women's diseases; discovered the paraurethral glands known as Skene's gland or Skene's ducts (1880).
* Robert L. Dickinson, MD - published first “modern” pamphlet on voluntary birth control (1931).
* Chandler McCuskey Brooks, PhD - Head of the Graduate program (1956-1966),[15] laid much of the groundwork in spinal cord and hypothalamic physiology, and cardiac pacemaker function (1950s).
* Robert Furchgott, PhD - awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for research on nitric oxide (1998).
* Carl Axel Gemzell, MD/PhD - first to use FSH to treat anovulatory women.

## See also

[edit]

* University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital
* State University of New York Upstate Medical University

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Fast Facts - SUNY". www.suny.edu.
2. ^ a b "Facts About SUNY Downstate". April 28, 2010. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
3. ^ a b Greenberg, Rebecca (January 31, 2024). "State to shutter SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn". ny1.com. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
4. ^ Greenberg, Rebecca (March 12, 2024). "Concerns mount among health care workers over plans to close SUNY Downstate". ny1.com. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
5. ^ Lewis, Caroline (April 19, 2024). "Brooklyn's SUNY Downstate hospital saved from closure until at least 2025". Gothamist. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
6. ^ "HEAT". Heatprogram.org. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
7. ^ Joanna DelBuono (December 12, 2013). "Standing O salutes SUNY Downstate's Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum for his award-winning youth work". Brooklyndaily.com. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
8. ^ "About". Brooklyn Free Clinic. December 28, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
9. ^ "whatsnext2014". Bfcconference2014.wix.com. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
10. ^ "CDMiConnect and Brooklyn Free Clinic for "We Need U" | MM&M Awards". Awards.mmm-online.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
11. ^ "CLIO Healthcare Awards | Integrated Campaign - Grand CLIO Winners". Cliohealthcare.com. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
12. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (January 17, 2013). "Audit, Citing Mismanagement, Finds SUNY Downstate in Dire Fiscal Straits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
13. ^ "Bombshell: Brooklyn judge orders SUNY Downstate to account for LICH's money, property". Brooklyn Eagle. June 28, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
14. ^ West, Melanie Grayce (January 22, 2020). "SUNY Downstate Accused of Retaliating Against Whistleblower Surgeons". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
15. ^ Narvaez, Alfonso A. (December 2, 1989). "Chandler Brooks, 83, a Professor Of Physiology and a Researcher". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

State University of New York

Leadership and governance|

* Chancellor
* System Administration Building
* Faculty Council of Community Colleges
* SUNY Student Assembly

Flagship campuses|

* Buffalo
* Stony Brook

University centers|

* Albany
* Binghamton
* Ceramics (Alfred)
* Cornell University
* Agriculture and Life Sciences
* Human Ecology
* Industrial and Labor Relations
* Veterinary Medicine
* Downstate Medical (Brooklyn)
* Environmental Science and Forestry (Syracuse)
* Optometry (Manhattan)
* Polytechnic Institute (Albany, Utica)
* Upstate Medical (Syracuse)

University colleges|

* Brockport
* Buffalo State
* Cortland
* Empire State (multi-site)
* Fredonia
* Geneseo
* New Paltz
* Old Westbury
* Oneonta
* Oswego
* Plattsburgh
* Potsdam
* Purchase

Technology colleges|

* Alfred State
* Canton
* Cobleskill
* Delhi
* Farmingdale
* Maritime
* Morrisville

Community colleges|

* Adirondack
* Broome
* Cayuga
* Clinton
* Columbia–Greene
* Corning
* Dutchess
* Erie
* Fashion Institute of Technology (Manhattan)
* Finger Lakes
* Fulton-Montgomery
* Genesee
* Herkimer
* Hudson Valley
* Jamestown
* Jefferson
* Mohawk Valley
* Monroe
* Nassau
* Niagara
* North Country
* Onondaga
* Orange
* Rockland
* Schenectady
* Suffolk
* Sullivan
* Tompkins Cortland
* Ulster
* Westchester

Programs|

* SUNY Online
* Ranger School

Institutes|

* Eye Institute
* Levin Institute

Other|

* Construction Fund
* Keyishian v. Board of Regents
* State University Police
* Research Foundation
* SUNY Athletic Conference
* SUNY Press

* Category
* radio stations
* List of units
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Colleges and universities in New York City

Universities|

* Columbia
* CUNY
* Fordham
* Long Island
* Manhattan
* Mercy
* Mount Saint Vincent
* New School
* NYU
* Pace
* St. John's
* St. Joseph's
* Touro
* Yeshiva

Arts|

* AADA
* AMDA
* FIT
* Juilliard
* Manhattan School of Music
* Art
* Film
* Studio School
* SVA

Architecture, design
and engineering|

* Bard Graduate Center
* Cooper Union
* Cornell Tech
* Pratt
* NYIT
* NYSID
* Parsons
* SUNY Maritime
* Vaughn

Education|

* Bank Street
* Teachers

Health|

* Einstein
* Mount Sinai
* Mount Sinai Phillips
* Pacific
* Podiatric
* Rockefeller
* SUNY Downstate
* SUNY Optometry
* Weill Cornell Medicine
* Weill Cornell Graduate School

Law schools|

* Brooklyn
* New York

Liberal arts colleges|

* Barnard
* Boricua
* Marymount Manhattan
* St. Francis
* Wagner

Private for-profit|

* Berkeley
* DeVry
* LIM
* Metropolitan
* Monroe

Theological seminaries|

* General
* Hebrew Union
* Jewish
* Union

Temporarily closed|

* The King's

Closed|

* New York Theological Seminary

* v
* t
* e

Hospitals in New York City

Manhattan (list)|

| Adult hospitals|

* Bellevue
* Carter
* Coler
* NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia
* Gracie Square
* Harlem
* Joint Diseases
* Kirby
* Northwell-Lenox Hill
* NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan
* Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat
* Manhattan Psychiatric
* VA Manhattan Campus
* Memorial Sloan Kettering
* Metropolitan
* Mount Sinai
* Mount Sinai Beth Israel
* Mount Sinai Morningside
* Mount Sinai West
* New York Eye and Ear of Mount Sinai
* NewYork-Presbyterian/Cornell
* NYU Langone
* Rockefeller
* NewYork-Presbyterian/Sloane
* Special Surgery

|

Children's hospitals|

* Hassenfeld Children's Hospital
* Kravis Children's Hospital
* Komansky Children's Hospital
* Lerner Children's Pavilion
* Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
* MSK Kids

Brooklyn (list)|

* Brookdale University
* Brooklyn
* VA Brooklyn Campus
* Coney Island
* Interfaith
* Kingsbrook
* Kings County
* Maimonides
* Mount Sinai Brooklyn
* NY Community
* NYP Methodist
* NYU Brooklyn
* SUNY Downstate
* Woodhull
* Wyckoff Heights

The Bronx (list)|

* Bronx Psychiatric
* Bronx-Lebanon
* Calvary
* James J. Peters VA Medical Center
* Jacobi
* Lincoln
* Montefiore
* Children's
* Moses
* Weiler ("Einstein")
* Wakefield ("Mercy")
* Westchester Square
* North Central Bronx
* St. Barnabas

Queens (list)|

* Cohen Children's Medical Center
* Creedmoor
* Elmhurst
* Floating
* Flushing
* Jamaica
* Long Island Jewish
* Long Island Jewish Forest Hills
* NewYork-Presbyterian/Queens
* Queens
* Queens Children's Psychiatric
* St. Albans
* Zucker Hillside

Staten Island (list)|

* Richmond University
* South Beach Psychiatric
* Staten Island University

Networks|

* NYC Health + Hospitals
* Montefiore Health
* Mount Sinai
* NewYork-Presbyterian
* Northwell Health
* NYU Langone
* VA New York Harbor

List of hospitals in New York City * Healthcare in New York City * List of hospitals in New York (state)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template