Stony Brook Medicine Earns ELSO Silver, Suffolk County's Only Recipient

Stony Brook Medicine earned the Silver Level Path to Excellence Award from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO), becoming the only hospital in Suffolk County to receive the distinction. The designation recognizes programs that demonstrate strong processes, procedures, systems and outcomes in extracorporeal life support, commonly known as ECMO.

The award was announced Jan. 20-21, 2026 and covers a three-year designation beginning Jan. 1, 2026. Stony Brook is one of three Long Island sites to receive the ELSO Silver level, a mark that national and international clinicians use to identify centers that meet rigorous standards for managing patients with severe heart or lung failure. ELSO is an international nonprofit that evaluates and recognizes top ECMO programs.

ECMO is a specialized form of life support that oxygenates and circulates blood outside the body for patients whose hearts or lungs cannot function sufficiently on their own. The technology is used in cases of severe respiratory failure, cardiogenic shock and certain post-surgical complications, and it requires intensive coordination among multiple disciplines. Stony Brook leaders highlighted their multidisciplinary ECMO and cardiothoracic intensive care unit teams - perfusionists, physicians, nurses and staff - as central to achieving the award.

For Suffolk County residents, the recognition offers a measure of local reassurance about access to advanced critical care without long transfers to other regions. Hospitals with ELSO designations typically follow defined protocols for patient selection, cannulation, monitoring and weaning from ECMO, which can translate into more consistent care and potentially better outcomes for patients who require these high-risk interventions. Being one of three Long Island recipients also positions Stony Brook to collaborate with regional partners on training, emergency response and capacity planning during seasonal surges of respiratory illness.

The Silver designation may also influence where referring physicians send their sickest patients and could affect recruitment of specialized staff needed to sustain and expand ECMO services. For families facing critical illness, the award signals that Stony Brook has undergone external review of its systems and outcomes for extracorporeal life support.

As the designation runs through the end of 2028, Stony Brook Medicine will continue operating under the standards that earned ELSO recognition. Suffolk County residents can view the award as an immediate validation of local critical care capability and as a reason to expect continued investment in life-saving cardiac and respiratory care close to home.