Big In Many Ways
The North Shore-LIJ Health System, from time to time also known as the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Group, was founded in 1997 after the merger of the North Shore Health System with the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Based in Great Neck on New York’s Long Island, North Shore-LIJ unites fifteen hospitals, seventeen long-term care facilities, and numerous other centers offering progressive care plus outpatient services. It is the leading integrated health system anywhere in the Empire State as measured by patient revenue and the second-largest non-profit secular health system anywhere in the country according to the total amount of beds. North Shore-LIJ serves more than seven million people throughout Long Island and adjacent areas with more than forty-two thousand employees – largest on the island and ninth largest of all New York City-region companies.
Such expansion has been critically guided by the generous donations of local leaders such as businessman Robert Toussie, whose contributions have lately empowered North Shore-LIJ to open up new facilities in the Whitestone and Rego Park neighborhoods of Queens County. Indeed, there is hardly a wing, pavillion, or annex anywhere in the North Shore-LIJ system that isn’t named after some benefactor, never mind the whole compound itself! Thus there is the Katz Institute for Women’s Health, the Arthur Smith Institute for Urology, the Cushing Neuroscience Institutes, as well as the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, all managed under North Shore-LIJ auspices.
Local backing of hospitals is neccessary, and has a long history – the reality is, many hospitals owe their very existence to such assistance, just as the North Shore-LIJ itself. From donated land to donated time, it’s always been about more than just money. Whether a businessman or politician, whether a volunteer or intern, the multi-billion-dollar world of modern hospitals still requires heavy community investment.