Southampton Hospital gets $5 million donation

Southampton Hospital has gotten its largest gift ever, a $5-million donation that will be used to cover the cost of expanding its emergency facilities.

The grant, from Jenny and John Paulson - he is founder and chairman of Paulson & Co. Inc., a Manhattan investment firm - will cover most of the work involved in nearly doubling the emergency treatment area to about 10,000 square feet and creating a separate "fast track" treatment area for minor injuries and less than acute illnesses.

About 25,000 people a year use the emergency facilities of Southampton Hospital, the only hospital in the Hamptons.

As part of the renovations, the 100-year-old hospital will finally get a separate, covered area for ambulances. When some trauma cases now come in, patients have to be wheeled through the emergency room waiting area, according to Southampton Hospital Foundation spokeswoman Marcia Kenny.

The work is expected to be finished by May, in time to meet the big patient increase that comes every summer. "It needs to be larger," said Kenny. "Particularly from April to Labor Day, we are really desperate for extra room."

Paulson, who started a hedge fund with $2 million in 1994 and saw it grow to $36 billion by 2008, lives in Southampton. He said it was important to have a high-quality local hospital.

"As Southampton residents, we have all benefitted from the services of the hospital," Paulson said in a statement. "Southampton Hospital is essential to all of us living in the East End."

Kenny said many Southampton families realize how vital a good local hospital is. "We're designated as a stroke center . . . you can't get into your car and drive to New York City when you have a stroke."