State to sell $1.1B in bonds to support Northwell

A state authority is issuing $1.1 billion in bonds to support a number of capital projects at Northwell Health hospitals and help the New Hyde Park-based health system pay back existing debt.

A $762.8 million bond issuance closed this week, according to the Dormitory Authority of New York, an arm of the state government that issues bonds and helps finance, design and build public infrastructure.

The proceeds will go toward a number of already announced expansion and improvement projects. This includes a $52 million project to double the size of the emergency department at John T. Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, and renovations of the cardiac catheterization labs at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park. The money will also go toward a $468 million expansion at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, and covering costs of a recently completed $560 million surgical wing at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Northwell said.

"DASNY is proud to partner with [Northwell] to provide access to capital financing for projects to cost effectively enhance the health care offerings they provide," DASNY president Robert Rodriguez said in a statement. "These financings will create an impressive array of services and options for patients and providers."

About $65 million from the first bond series will be used to refund bonds issued in 2009, DASNY said. A second series of $351 million bonds is slated to be delivered in February and be put toward refunding bonds issued in 2015, according to DASNY paperwork.

"The ability for us to refinance debt is always good because that allows us to have a lower operating expense that enables us to use our own resources to put back into our community," said Matthew Kirschner, vice president of finance.

The first round of bonds are slated to mature in 2054. The second series are slated to mature in 2043, said Kirschner. 

By Sarina Trangle

sarina.trangle@newsday.comSarinaTrangle

Sarina Trangle covers affordability and cost of living issues and other business topics. She previously worked as an editor and reporter at amNewYork.