Rep. Torres, Governor Hochul Announce Nearly $10 Million in State Funding to Build Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Lincoln Hospital

Yesterday, Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15) joined Governor Kathy Hochul at Lincoln Hospital to announce nearly $10 million in State funding to construct and outfit a cardiac catheterization lab, closing the funding gap Rep. Torres identified and pressed the State to fill.

Lincoln operates the busiest single-site emergency room in New York City and the third busies in the country, yet the hospital has no cath lab and no capacity to perform percutaneous coronary intervention, the standard of care for a major heart attack. Patients suffering a STEMI must be stabilized at Lincoln and transferred to Bellevue in Manhattan or Jacobi in the East Bronx, a delay that increases the risk of death or permanent heart damage. The South Bronx has among the highest rates of cardiovascular disease in the state and among the lowest levels of access to cardiovascular treatment.

Rep. Torres first raised the alarm in an October 20, 2025 letter to Governor Hochul and then-Mayor Adams, joined by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, then-Deputy Speaker of the City Council Diana Ayala, Assemblymember Amanda Septimo, and State Senator Jose M. Serrano, calling for emergency funding from the State and the City to build the lab. By February 2026, Borough President Gibson and the Bronx State Senate Delegation had committed funding toward the project, and Rep. Torres wrote again to Governor Hochul, joined by Reps. Adriano Espaillat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and George Latimer, asking the State to close the remaining $9 million gap.

The State’s nearly $10 million investment exceeds that gap. Combined with prior city and federal commitments, the project totals $14 million, covering the build-out of the lab space and the purchase of specialized imaging systems, C-arm angiography equipment, patient monitoring systems, and sterile supplies.

“The South Bronx has waited too long for the cardiac care it deserves,” said Rep. Torres. “A patient having a heart attack at Lincoln Hospital can be stabilized but not fully treated, and must be transferred to another hospital, with every minute of delay increasing the risk of permanent damage or death. That is not health equity. Today that changes, with a $14 million investment to build a cardiac catheterization lab at the busiest single-site emergency room in New York City, so South Bronx residents get the same standard of care as everyone else in this state. I have fought for this funding since day one, and I thank Governor Hochul for closing the final $9 million gap and delivering what this community has needed for years.”

“All New Yorkers deserve access to the critical, lifesaving care they need, when and where they need it,” said Governor Hochul. “With this investment, we are providing needed cardiac care to residents of the South Bronx, and addressing the health disparities that have plagued this area for far too long.”