Four Orange County Hospitals Share $500K to Boost Pediatric Emergency Readiness

Four Orange County hospitals will split $500,000 in state grants to bring their emergency departments into compliance with national pediatric readiness standards, State Senator James Skoufis and Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson announced Friday.

Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, Garnet Health in the Town of Wallkill, St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick, and Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis will each receive approximately $125,000. The money is earmarked for equipment purchases, staff training, and workflow changes required to complete the National Pediatric Readiness Project assessment.

The urgency behind the investment is stark: roughly 80 percent of U.S. hospitals are not properly equipped or prepared to handle surges of pediatric patients. In New York, the participation gap is just as pronounced. Skoufis noted that only about 17 percent of emergency departments statewide had completed the national assessment, leaving the vast majority of hospital EDs operating without a verified pediatric readiness score.

Gina Del Savio, chief medical officer at Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall, said the hospital plans to use a significant portion of its allotment to install an all-new airway system running throughout the facility, a concrete upgrade targeted at pediatric respiratory emergencies.

At Garnet Health, the funding carries both clinical and moral weight. Jonathan Schiller, president and CEO, framed the effort plainly: "A measure of society is how it takes care of its most vulnerable." Dr. Pamela Murphy, Garnet's chief medical officer, pointed specifically to rising pediatric behavioral health needs as a driver of the readiness gap, noting that children presenting to emergency departments in crisis require specialized preparation that many EDs currently lack.

That behavioral health dimension adds particular urgency in Orange County, where emergency departments have absorbed growing volumes of pediatric mental health cases. Completing the national assessment could reduce the need to transfer children to facilities outside the region, delays that cost time and strain families during the worst moments.

Skoufis, who represents Cornwall, and Jacobson, whose district includes Newburgh, secured the funding through the state budget process. The grants remove a capital barrier that has historically kept smaller regional hospitals from investing in pediatric-specific equipment and training alongside competing budget demands.

If all four hospitals complete the assessment and meet its benchmarks, Orange County would have a county-wide network of emergency departments verified to national pediatric standards, an outcome that would have taken each institution far longer to reach without the coordinated state investment.