Queens hospitals press borough board for $14.7 million in radiology, imaging and clinic upgrades

Neil Moore, chief executive officer of Queens Hospital (New York City Health + Hospitals/Queens), told the Queensborough Board during the borough’s FY26 preliminary budget hearing that the hospital is seeking capital funding to upgrade clinical space and diagnostic equipment.

Moore said Queens Hospital had identified “several critical projects with a total funding request of $6,400,000,” and listed $2 million to modernize a 10,665‑square‑foot subspecialty clinic, $1 million to replace aging radiology X‑ray equipment, $2.5 million to upgrade the hospital’s nuclear medicine system, $350,000 to replace a bone‑density machine, and $600,000 for three C‑arm imaging tables and portable X‑ray units.

“These capital investments are not just upgrades. They are essential in helping us address health care needs of our community effectively,” Moore said, adding the projects would reduce wait times, improve diagnostic image quality and support cardiac and emergency care.

Dr. Helen Atiaga, chief executive officer of Elmhurst Hospital (New York City Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst), said Elmhurst is seeking roughly $6.3 million for radiology upgrades — including X‑ray replacements, an MRI and a PET scanner — plus a roughly $800,000 request for a specialized orthopedics (‘‘grama’’) tower and $2 million to renovate outdoor yards and spaces for the hospital’s 77‑bed behavioral‑health unit. “So in total, we’re asking about, like, $8,300,000,” Dr. Atiaga said.

Both CEOs framed the requests as investments tied to patient safety and access. Moore emphasized cardiac and nuclear medicine upgrades to improve diagnosis of coronary disease and heart failure; Dr. Atiaga said radiology capacity affects Elmhurst’s trauma and obstetric volumes and that better behavioral‑health outdoor space supports recovery for inpatients who may stay 16–21 days.

Neither hospital offered a project schedule tied to a specific appropriation in the hearing record. Moore thanked borough and council officials for prior support; Dr. Atiaga said Elmhurst is “in design” and “out to bid” for a maternity project and that construction selection was expected once bids come in.

Context: both hospitals told the board their capital requests are aimed at addressing higher rates of chronic disease in parts of Queens and at improving throughput in emergency and operating room settings. Hospital leaders said they will seek funding from the borough president’s discretionary allocations and from council and mayoral capital processes.

No formal borough board votes were recorded at the hearing.