Increased emphasis on primary care and ambulatory treatment has not diminished University Hospital's commitment to remaining a world-class referral center providing the most advanced specialty care. We are particularly focusing on Centers of Excellence in Cardiovascular Care, including thoracic and vascular surgery; Neurosciences; Women's and Children's Health; and Renal Care, including kidney, urology, and transplant services.

For some time, SUNY Downstate has been a regional referral center for the most seriously ill cardiac patients and has maintained an outstanding record of success in angioplasty, bypass surgery, and other procedures. Among other points of pride is our success in serving the needs of African-Americans, who have some of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease and are 50 percent more likely than whites to die from heart failure. University Hospital has a long-standing record of commitment to this community, performing more heart bypass surgeries on African-American patients than any hospital in the state, and also treating large numbers of other ethnic minorities in our cardiovascular and electrophysiology laboratory programs. Every Wednesday afternoon, the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine sponsors a free clinic at University Hospital for anyone who wants screening for heart disease and information about prevention.

The Division of Vascular Surgery has set the pace in the field of endovascular surgery, both in physician training and patient care, and SUNY Downstate was recently selected to play an important role in a multicenter trial for endovascular treatment of aortic aneurysms. We are, in addition, the only medical center in the borough offering pediatric heart surgery, and the only hospital with a comprehensive heart failure program.

In the area of Women's and Children's Health we plan to construct a new labor-delivery-recovery room complex and to expand our Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The NICU, which is a regional referral center, saves the lives of the borough's tiniest and sickest babies. University Hospital is the only hospital in Brooklyn capable of offering pediatric cardiovascular surgery services, including procedures on neonates.