About the Organization
SUNY Downstate is the sole academic medical center in Brooklyn, one of the nations largest, most ethnically diverse, urban communities. Comprised of the College of Medicine, College of Health Related Professions, College of Nursing, School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health & its own teaching hospital, University Hospital of Brooklyn. A major academic center in NYS, we train more than 1,860 medical, graduate science, nursing, health professions & public health students yearly. Residency training & fellowship programs include 53 primary, specialty & subspecialty fields & over 900 trainees. There are over 1,000 academic faculty, 2,600 voluntary faculty & 3,000 staff at Downstate. UHB provides primary & tertiary patient care services. Our physicians treat nearly 16,000 hospitalized patients annually & oversee more than 290,000 outpatient visits a year. The Hospital serves as clinical training facility for the colleges of medicine, nursing & health professionals. Downstate has been a pioneer in medical & scientific research. Downstate faculty members were first to produce full-body human images using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) & the first to successfully perform open-heart surgery in New York State (only the second instance of this procedure to be performed in the nation). We were first to establish a federally-funded dialysis clinic in the United States, prove that alcoholism has a genetic link, conduct a federal study of perinatal transmission of HIV, & identify the important role that nitric oxide plays in cardiovascular health. This last discovery led to awarding the 1998 Nobel Prize to Downstate faculty member Dr. Robert F. Furchgott. Important scientific & medical discovery work is currently underway with annual extramural funding of $49 million.
About the Community
UHB offers outpatient services in 4 community practices. UHB Family Health Services, provides primary & preventive medical care for Flatbush & Crown Heights. The Center for Health Services provides a complete range of ophthalmology services. The Center for Dialysis Treatment, one of Brooklyns largest renal dialyses centers provides peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis, home dialysis, & general supportive care for children & adults with ESRD. Downstate-Bay Ridge, provides immediate medical services. Brooklyns only kidney transplant service & pediatric dialysis program are signature programs. The NYS Department of Health has certified UHB as an AIDS center, stroke center & regional perinatal center. The regional perinatal center is one of two in Brooklyn, providing neonatal & high risk infant services. Offering extensive array of pediatric medical & surgical services & providing sophisticated medical care for children with acute & chronic medical/surgical problems. Downstate has been a pioneer in research, treatment & prevention of HIV & AIDS. One of the first research studies examining perinatal HIV transmission, the HIV Center for Women & Children has grown to a multi-disciplinary center currently serving over 2,000 HIV+ men, women & children with nearly $8 million in annual extramural funding. The STAR Health Center has worked to improve the lives of Central Brooklyn community residents & provides comprehensive primary care by providers who have received advanced training in infectious disease, HIV and/or hepatitis C. Additional services include family planning, hormone therapy, high-resolution anoscopy (HRA), nutritional education & counseling, case management, HIV Clinical Trials Program, behavioral health services, HIV testing & counseling & inpatient HIV services.