Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion opens as new destination on Northwell Health's flagship Long Island campus

This 280,000-sf surgical pavilion is an addition to Northwell Health’s flagship North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) campus on Long Island, a facility that is tied for Number 1 in U.S. News & World Report rankings for Best Hospital in New York State. The Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion serves as a new modern centerpiece for Northwell Health, New York State’s largest healthcare employer, with more than 85,000 employees. The system is the largest in the state, treating more than two million New Yorkers a year, with that number steadily growing. The pavilion adds to Northwell Health’s expansive network of 21 hospitals and 890 outpatient centers to meet the demand for complex care centers close to the communities it serves.

The Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion has 18 operating rooms including three Hybrid ORs and 132 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) rooms. The hybrid ORs incorporate a single-plane imaging system that allows Northwell’s team to complete complex surgical cases within an OR environment. 

The pavilion will be home to the award-winning Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital and feature a dedicated entrance for cardiac patients and their loved ones and a new lobby. It will also allow Northwell Health to expand its organ transplant services and its neurosurgery department. One of the hybrid ORs is designed specifically for neurosurgery, and there is a dedicated 22-bed neurosurgical ICU.

“It was a great privilege to partner with Northwell Health on the Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion and expand specialty care for thousands of residents across Long Island and Queens,” said Rob Masters, a co-Healthcare Practice Leader in CannonDesign’s New York City office and a Healthcare Planning Principal. “This facility will allow Northwell’s nationally recognized specialty programs to continue to flourish and allow them to provide top-rate surgical care for individuals with complex conditions.”

The design team sought to blend the materiality and scale of the existing NSUH complex and to create an open and inviting facility where patient experience was paramount. The patient journey starts at the sheltered entry court that leads to a gracious light-filled lobby. This double height lobby is framed by a luminous glass bridge that connects the new operating room suites and the first of the ICU floors with the existing surgical suite and hospital.

The organization of the bed floors creates two distinct units and allows for circulation from the existing hospital. This project not only enhances patient care and adds capacity, but it also supports clinicians and staff through that efficient connection to the existing hospital. The universal operating room design ensures future flexibility to support various specialties as care needs evolve in the future.

On the pavilion’s exterior, the new pavilion presents a welcoming visage on Community Drive with a large sun shaded, multi-story window which references the Northwell Health logo: a constellation symbol that represents Northwell’s diverse group of forward-thinking people, all moving in the same direction to transform the future of healthcare.