The Montefiore Nyack Hospital is opening up its Family Emergency Center after months of delay due to COVID-19.

The opening was postponed so that the space could be used as an ICU for COVID-19 patients.

Hospital officials say it has since been thoroughly decontaminated. The new facility is expected to cut patient wait times down dramatically.

"Had we not had this, we would not have made it through the COVID-19 crisis," says Dr. Mark Geller, President and CEO of the center. "It was just fortuitous, and sometimes it's just better to be lucky than good."

The new Family Emergency Center has 58 treatment spaces, including one of the only behavioral care units in the region.

"Our goal is really to greet the patient by a nurse as soon as they come in and get them into a bed right away, and this additional new space allows us to accomplish that even better," says Dr. Jeffrey Rabrich.

The facility is expected to be completed early next year.