Our Mission
Episcopal Health Services, in partnership with our community, provides exceptional healthcare and education programs in an academic setting across the continuum of care. We deliver high quality, value based services with cultural sensitivity to the faiths and traditions of those we serve.
Our Vision
Episcopal Health Services will build an effective coalition aimed at achieving improved community health status in a financially stable environment, with emphasis on serving the needs of our patients and families, while training the physicians and healthcare providers of tomorrow.
Our Values
ICARE
I-Innovation
C– Compassion
A– Accountability
R– Respect
E– Empathy
Who We Are
Episcopal Health Services Inc., (EHS) is a health system located on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, New York. The system provides inpatient, outpatient and emergency care to the diverse populations of the Rockaways, Five Towns, South Nassau and beyond. The system offers comprehensive preventive, diagnostic, and rehabilitative services to people of all faiths.
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission’s Health Facilities Accreditation Program and is approved by the New York State Department of Health. The hospital is a recipient of the Gold-Plus Get with the Guidelines®-Stroke Quality Achievement Award and the Gold-Plus Get with the Guidelines®-Heart Failure Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. Additionally, the hospital is designated as a Baby-Friendly® Hospital by Baby-Friendly USA – the accrediting body and national authority for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in the United States.
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital is a teaching hospital, training over 180 residents annually in 10 Graduate Medical Education Programs accredited by the New York State Department of Education. Our Family Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Rotating Internship and Ophthalmology Programs are accredited by the American Osteopathic Association and affiliated with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. Internal Medicine, Dermatology and Psychiatry are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Graduate Medical Education Programs in Podiatry and Wound Care are accredited by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education.
The hospital strives to support area residents to achieve optimal health outcomes and quality of life. Services extend beyond inpatient and outpatient care to include outreach to the community to improve health status. Outreach services include behavioral health screening, screening for hypertension, asthma and diabetes, information on health insurance, social work and nutrition counseling, and the Speaker’s Bureau, which offers assistance to community organizations by arranging for doctors, nurses, social workers, pastors, nutritionists, and other healthcare professionals who conduct health education on topics such as childbirth and parenting, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, grieving, weight management and nutrition, osteoporosis, cholesterol management, substance abuse, scabies, exercise, aging, depression and emergency care. The hospital’s Mobile Health Unit offers services, such as administering flu shots and sharing imperative health education materials, that support the community’s health initiatives and healthcare partners on the Peninsula.
History
We are delighted to share with you the Hospital’s history, its milestones and noteworthy achievements. During the nineteenth century, residents of the Rockaways and the South Shore of Long Island who required hospital care were obliged to make the long, difficult journey to Brooklyn or Manhattan. In 1905, a concerned committee of local residents appealed to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn, the Right Reverend Charles E. McDonnell.
Bishop McDonnell turned to the Sisters of St. Joseph, who opened the Hospital on June 25, 1905, in the former Star of the Sea Academy. Patients who could afford it were charged one dollar a day. Serving the growing communities of the Rockaways and the Five Towns, the Hospital grew by leaps and bounds.
In 1976, at a critical juncture for healthcare services, and with the leadership and vision of the Right Reverend Jonathan G. Sherman, V Bishop of Long Island, the Church Charities Foundation, forerunner of Episcopal Health Services Inc., assumed stewardship of the facility, renaming it St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, and restoring the original sense of mission and direction.
In 1982, under the watch of the Right Reverend Robert C. Witcher, VI Bishop of Long Island, the Hospital constructed the $37 million Tower Building. Episcopal Health Services took the reins in 1987 and, under its leadership, the Hospital has made a great number of advances. The Hospital opened a fresh chapter of service at its centennial in 2005, it continues to offer excellent quality health care to its patients and looks ahead to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
