Frequently Asked Questions

Our proposal is deeply informed by our expert staff of doctors and nurses and medical industry standards. It includes:

• State-of-the-art operating rooms allow the hospital to be at the forefront of innovation and to adapt space to emergent technology and new industry practices.
• A right-sized Emergency Department creating more space to isolate infectious or immuno-compromised patients and offer all patients more comfort and privacy.
• Modern-day single-bed patient rooms consistent with industry standards, offering all patients added privacy, reducing infection risk and providing a more dignified experience for the patient and their families and loved ones at no additional cost to patients.
• A dedicated Mother-Baby Hospital to better serve the more than 4,000 deliveries performed at Lenox Hill Hospital annually.

We have been a part of the Upper East Side community for 160+ years, and we take our role as a neighbor seriously. As part of our revitalization, we are making investments to:

• Improve street safety and congestion by moving the hospital bay within the building envelope.
• Commit $20 million to improve subway infrastructure and accessibility on the southwest corner of 77th Street and Lexington Avenue to reduce congestion and improve access to the subway station, including creating off-street ADA accessibility and a larger stairway.

The proposed project requires rezoning and so is subject to review under the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). The seven-month ULURP process officially began when the Department of City Planning certified the project in early February. Throughout the ULURP process, Lenox Hill Hospital will continue to actively engage with our neighbors, patients, staff and local leaders about our updated plans for the hospital to ensure we can effectively deliver the next generation of high-quality care for New Yorkers.

New York City is seeing consistent divestment from healthcare institutions and an increase in hospital closures. A lack of investment in a fully state-of-the-art Lenox Hill Hospital could have cascading effects that compromise the health of our patients and the broader New York health care community. This is not simply about renovating a building — it's about securing the future of health care for generations of New Yorkers. The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated — we must act decisively to ensure LHH remains a beacon of hope and healing for all.

Since 2019, Northwell has participated in various public conversations with community stakeholders, including 12 Community Board and task force meetings, as well as multiple meetings with neighbors and community representatives. In response to community priorities, the following key updates were made to the project:

• Reduced height: Following previous efforts to reduce the building height — including the elimination of the residential building — Northwell Health also included a second proposed building envelope in its ULURP submission, which would decrease the overall building height by shifting density from the Lexington Avenue frontage to the midblock.
• Shortened construction timeline: The plan offers two options, both significantly reducing the construction timeline. Envelope 1 includes 6 years of external work, while Envelope 2 involves 6.5 years of external work.
• Improved traffic conditions: The ambulance bay along East 77th Street has been redesigned to ease traffic flow by reducing congestion along 77th Street and improving pedestrian safety.

Lenox Hill Hospital has worked to reduce the estimated length of construction to approximately nine years for both design options. The construction timeline, depending on the design, includes approximately 6 to 6.5 years of exterior construction and 3 to 3.5 years of interior construction.

We underwent a rigorous environmental review conducted by multiple city agencies in line with the City’s environmental review process. It found that the project would not result in any significant adverse impacts to the following study areas: Land Use, Zoning, and Public Policy, Community Facilities and Services, Open Space, Historic and Cultural Resources, Urban Design and Visual Resources, Hazardous Materials, Water and Sewer Infrastructure, Transportation, Air Quality, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change, Noise, Public Health, and Neighborhood Character.

Two areas would experience impacts: shadows on the garden of Eighth Church of Christ, Scientist, and temporary construction noise at certain locations, which will vary throughout construction. The study also outlines concrete steps by the hospital to minimize these impacts.

While some types of care may be increasingly delivered remotely, our hospital spaces expect to serve more and more patients with the highest acuity and most complex needs. Lenox Hill Hospital has been adapting to changes in the delivery of medical care by moving most outpatient services to other facilities and focusing on the anticipated increased need for inpatient services. Population growth and an aging population – with more chronic, acute, and complex medical needs – will continue to drive the need for more hospital-based care and require sufficient and appropriate space for state-of-the-art technology and single-bed patient rooms.

The project's primary purpose is to bring the hospital's physical spaces up to current standards for the 144,000 patients it treats annually and to enable future health care at Lenox Hill Hospital. A revitalized Lenox Hill Hospital is essential to continue to best serve our patients and New York. The proposal does not seek to add significant additional hospital rooms or health care activities to the site but rather to ensure a functioning, first-class facility for our patients and staff now and in the future.

While Lenox Hill Hospital receives patients from all five boroughs of the city and beyond, its service area, which generates the highest volume of its patients, consists of Manhattan, parts of western Queens and southern Brooklyn. These communities have a population of 3.5 million people and have consistently shown a reliance on Lenox Hill Hospital for inpatient and ambulatory care.  

New Yorkers can’t afford to lose Lenox Hill Hospital, even for a short time:

• The hospital handles over 50,000 emergency visits, 20,000 surgeries and 4,000 births each year—critical, lifesaving care that cannot be put on pause.
• Our emergency room is a lifeline for the community, and shutting it down would force patients to travel even farther for urgent care, delaying treatment when minutes matter.

Lenox Hill Hospital also supports the Upper East Side economy, employing over 5,000 New Yorkers and bringing steady business to local shops, restaurants and services.

Transferring operations elsewhere, even temporarily, is not practical. Other hospitals do not have the space to accommodate our patients. Buying and then converting another facility would take just as long, if not longer, will interrupt patient care and require an even costlier investment, and is not economically feasible for the health system.

It is also not feasible for LHH to simply close for a period of time in order to shorten construction time– closing a hospital in New York State is a highly regulated process, would result in a significant disruption in care, and is only undertaken when there are significant financial strains. Likewise, moving a hospital facility presents significant operational and construction challenges that would not reduce construction timelines for Lenox Hill Hospital but instead extend construction.