Yonkers Data Center to Host Infrastructure for North Shore-LIJ Computer Network

Yonkers, NY, April 16, 2009 - Montefiore Medical Center's IT subsidiary, Emerging Health Information Technology, has announced the signing of a multi-year hosting agreement with North Shore-LIJ Health System, the largest healthcare provider in New York State.  Emerging Health's Data Management Center (DMC) in Yonkers, New York will provide support for a portion of North Shore-LIJ's computer network which includes 15 hospitals, 17 long-term care facilities, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, three trauma centers, five home health agencies, a hospice network and dozens of outpatient centers across Queens, Long Island and Staten Island. In addition to hosting, the two organizations will be working together to leverage resources and technology between the two healthcare leaders.

"Emerging Health is proud to be collaborating with North Shore-LIJ to help them consolidate and cut costs related to running multiple data centers. For North Shore-LIJ, hosting delivers real economic benefits," said Jack Wolf, Emerging Health's president and chief executive officer. "In addition, we have already discovered many synergies in our organizations and believe we possess skills and resources that will be beneficial to each other." 

"High availability, reliability and security are the critical factors when choosing a data center and Emerging Health meets our needs in all three categories. Their entire operation and organization is specifically designed to support healthcare delivery systems." said John Bosco, chief information officer for North Shore-LIJ. "Emerging Health will be an important part of our disaster recovery and off-site data replication plans and we are confident that they will serve our current and future needs."

Montefiore Medical Center built Emerging Health's Data Management Center (DMC) in 2002. The DMC boasts multiple levels of power redundancy including diesel generators, best-of-breed UPS systems and PDUs (power distribution units) to ensure uninterrupted power supply even in the unlikely event of a sustained power failure. It features precision air-conditioning systems that closely monitor and regulate the ambient temperature and relative humidity of the environment as well as raised flooring, fire detection and water-sensing technology.

To ensure utmost security of the DMC, multiple levels of physical and electronic surveillance are on premise including closed circuit TV, security personnel, and access card readers.  The DMC will be expanded to include the latest high-density server technology to achieve even higher performance and efficiency levels.

"At North Shore-LIJ, information technology will continue to play a critical role in delivering the best possible care to patients. We are confident that our relationship with Emerging Health will help us continue to meet the high standards of excellence we set for ourselves," said Bosco.

"We view our relationship with North Shore-LIJ as a significant step in strengthening collaboration between healthcare organizations and bringing advancement in healthcare information technology to the communities we serve." Wolf added.