Kirsten Gillibrand

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New York State Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand toured Richmond University Medical Center’s Wayne Zenna Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on Tuesday amid its major infrastructure work, announcing that she’d secured $2 million in federal support to assist the project, which is anticipated to be completed in early 2027.

It is the first phase of renovation to meet the growing need for specialized care provided to newborns requiring advanced care.

“We were honored to welcome Senator Gillibrand to our Wayne Zenna NICU and to thank her personally for her extraordinary support of this project,” said RUMC President Dr. John C. Evanko. “Her leadership in securing federal funding is helping us create a state-of-the-art environment where our physicians, nurses, and specialists can continue delivering exceptional care to Staten Island’s smallest and most vulnerable newborns. We are grateful for her partnership and her continued commitment to the health and well-being of our community.”

The senator met with hospital leadership and a number of the nurses, neonatologists and medical specialists who provide care and support to the newborns and their families.

RUMC’s NICU is a New York State Department of Health-designated Level III NICU, a designation that affirms the unit has the expertise, technology and support services to provide comprehensive care for premature and critically ill newborns.

The unit cares for more than 500 newborns annually, including babies born as early as 23 weeks.

The $10 million expansion project will include 18 private infant care bays, a new isolation room, a renovated nursing station and an expanded waiting area for families. Additional support for the project has been secured from private donors as well as funding through the New York City Capital Grants program with the assistance of the Staten Island City Council Delegation and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella.

“The improvements and expansion of our Level III Wayne Zenna Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to a new, state-of-the-art facility will allow us to continue providing highly specialized, family-centered care to our smallest and most vulnerable newborns,” said Dr. Santosh Parab, RUMC’s chief of neonatology.

One of the first NICUs certified by New York City in the 1960s when neonatal intensive care was still emerging, RUMC serves one of the nation’s highest-risk newborn populations and has achieved exceptional outcomes.

Over the past five years, the hospital’s neonatal mortality rate has been approximately 1 per 1,000 births, significantly lower than the national average of 4 per 1,000 births. The NICU’s medical professionals have experience with a wide range of medical conditions, including congenital heart disease, breathing and feeding difficulties, blood disorders, Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS), hypoglycemia and jaundice.