Local Philanthropist Donates to PBMC Women's and Infants Center

Riverhead, NY—Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) announced today that it has graciously received a $250,000 donation from local philanthropists Robert and Patricia Friemann to help the hospital establish the region's first Women and Babies Center. The generous donation will help the hospital get closer to its fundraising goal as the planning process is already underway with expectations to open the Women's and Infants' Center in late 2025.

“Rob Friemann has been a driving force behind the empowerment of the North Fork community for many years, and we are incredibly grateful to him and his wife Pattie for seeing our vision as a key contributor to the well-being of the community for current residents and for those to come.” generations.” said Peconic Bay Medical Center Executive Director Amy Loeb, EdD, MBA, RN. “Their generosity brings us closer to establishing the East End Center for Women and Babies, which will be a beacon of health and support for families in our community. This significant contribution is in line with our commitment to provide the highest level of care to our patients and to make the highest level of advanced healthcare available and accessible to all.”

The Women's and Infants Center will feature brand new private rooms and make much-needed comprehensive women's health services accessible to residents throughout Eastern Suffolk County. It will also allow PBMC to increase the level of care for women at all stages of life, including a more advanced level of breast health, urogynecology and teleneonatology and a goal to develop a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Plans for this expansion were announced during an event PBMC held at the hospital in June 2023 to share their five-year strategy. In that time, the Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation has raised more than $33 million.

“The impressive vision and history of Peconic Bay Medical Center is extremely exciting for the North Fork community, especially considering its current track record of success and how much the hospital has grown in a short period of time. Pattie and I are honored to help make this critical initiative a reality,” said Rob Friemann. “I believe in the importance of making high-quality health care for women more accessible throughout our community. For too long, my family and neighbors have had to drive long distances for treatment or ignore our healthcare for convenience. With the investments Amy and Peconic Bay Medical Center have already made and the tangible services they are in the process of bringing to the hospital, world-class medical care is now in our backyards.”

The donation comes after Peconic Bay Medical Center was recognized by the national hospital rating organization Healthgrades as a Five Star hospital in several areas. The hospital also received three Awards of Excellence for Coronary Intervention, Gastrointestinal Care and Pulmonary Care. Along with these awards, PBMC was also ranked among the top ten percent in the nation for Interventional Coronary Procedures, Total Pulmonary Care, GI Medical Therapy and Total GI Services. Peconic Bay Medical Center was also one of only seven Long Island hospitals to receive an A safety rating from Leapfrog in its Fall 2023 report. This was PBMC's second consecutive A safety rating.

About Peconic Bay Medical Center

Located in Riverhead, New York, Peconic Bay Medical Center is a 144-bed not-for-profit hospital committed to providing excellent care and improving the health of the communities it serves. Peconic Bay Medical Center offers broad-spectrum, full-scope services and programs, including advanced surgical, cardiac, orthopedic and women's health care, comprehensive inpatient medical care, palliative care and a wide range of outpatient services, along with state-of-the-art technology . Peconic Bay Medical Center joined Northwell Health in 2016. For more information, visit PBMCHealth.org and follow us @PeconicBayMedicalCenter on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.