Phelps New Critical Care Unit Continues Tradition

Named for Beloved Physician, Unit is Family and Patient Centered

When the Arnold Salop, M.D., Critical Care Unit at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center opened last month it added tremendously to the hospital’s treatment options and continued the legacy of its namesake.  

The unit is in keeping with Phelps’ long-standing history of addressing the needs of critically ill patients and their families.  Costing nearly $2 million, it consists of 12 private rooms and a state-of-the-art nurses’ monitoring station. 

Computer Access

Each room is equipped with a private bathroom, phone jack, and computer accessibility. Special beds help to prevent skin disorders and pulmonary complications, two ailments that often occur in patients who are critically ill. The physicians’ consultation area provides a private meeting area for doctors and family members. In addition to a family waiting area, the unit also has two sleeping chaises, so a family member can rest at a patient’s bedside if necessary.

“Patient care remains our primary concern, and we have spared no expense on the medical hardware. At the same time, we recognize the important role that family members play in the healing process,” said Keith Safian, President and CEO of the 235-bed Community Hospital. “That is why we committed substantial resources to ensure that both patients and their loved ones feel welcomed and comfortable.

Critical Care a Phelps Tradition

Dr. Salop’s Indelible Mark

In 1964 Phelps opened its Intensive Care Unit, one of the first in Westchester County.  Four years later, the Cardiac Care Unit was activated. The opening of these units was part of a national trend in medicine, which recognized that critically ill patients could not be adequately cared for in the normal acute care hospital room. Instead, these patients required the immediate availability of highly skilled nurses serving under the continuous supervision of physicians, as well as a variety of complicated and costly life-support services and equipment. 

The medical community recognized the importance of providing special care for the very ill; but due to space limitations, the first Intensive Care/Cardiac Care Units were often located in existing patient service areas that were rearranged and equipped to accommodate these new functions. At Phelps the area was the 3rd Floor of the North Wing.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Dr. Arnold Salop, who joined the Phelps medical staff in 1963, saw the pressing need for a modern critical care facility and took steps to create a unit in an area that had not previously been used for patient care.  He pinpointed the Center Wing of the Hospital’s 5th Floor. As the committee chairman, he was instrumental in the unit’s design, fund raising efforts and all other aspects of making the unit come to fruition.

During his nearly 40-year association with Phelps, Dr. Salop, who passed away in 2000, left an indelible mark on many phases of the hospital’s development.  He wrote Phelps’ first Formulary, was one of the first physicians appointed the Board of Directors, led the Board’s Development Committee, and co-chaired the Capital Campaign.  Dr. Salop headed the Cardiovascular Laboratory and served as Director of Medicine, Director of Medical Affairs and President of the Medical Staff of the Hospital. 

A believer in patient education, Dr. Salop was the founder and initial editor of Phelps Today, the hospital’s quarterly newsletter, which is mailed to readers throughout the county. 

Although a number of Phelps’ departments benefited from Dr. Salop’s expertise, his concern for the Critical Care Unit remained steadfast. “Dr. Salop’s interest in Critical Care never waned,” Safian said. “He made sure that the unit’s nursing staff received continuing education and that the unit’s equipment remained state-of-the-art. When the time came, he pushed for an entirely new unit.

Ossining Resident Takes up call to Build Unit

Helps Raise more than $800,000

David Swope, a life-long resident of Ossining, whose family has been associated with Phelps since its beginning in the 1950s, chaired the funding effort for the Critical Care Unit. “Arnie was associated with the hospital for nearly forty years – virtually since its inception,” said Swope, who joined the Phelps Board in early 1999 and owns the Club Fit group of health clubs. “It seems fitting that his many contributions to Phelps be acknowledged by rebuilding the Critical Care Unit in his honor.”

Swope initiated the CCU effort by making a leadership gift and identifying an anonymous donor to match community contributions, which totaled more than $800,000. “Serving on the Board allowed me to realize that a community hospital derives its strength from community support,” he said. “That support is even more crucial now, because government and insurance reimbursements continue to decline.”

Although Salop did not live to see the completion of the unit, his legacy lives on. When the history of Phelps is written, Dr. Salop will be in every chapter. He was associated with the hospital virtually since its inception, making pioneering contributions at every step of the way.  Salop lived with his wife, Mary Ellen, in Pleasantville. 

Phelps Memorial Hospital Center’s New Critical Care Unit

Named for Arnold Salop, Beloved Physician

Pictured above during a tour of the unit l-r: Bruce B. Davidow, FACHE, Senior Vice President & COO of Phelps; Keith Safian, FACHE, President and CEO of Phelps; Maryellen Salop, Salop’s widow and a resident of Pleasantville; David Swope, who chaired the fund raising efforts and a resident of Ossining and owner of Club Fit groups of health clubs.

Maarten van Hengel, former Member of the Phelps Board of Directors and a resident of Scarbough; and Franklin Zimmerman, M.D., Director of The Arnold Salop, M.D., Critical Care Unit and a resident of Mt. Kisco.

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