Jewish boy is first born as hospital system drops Jewish and Long Island from its name

Long Island’s first baby of 2016 is a Jewish boy who was born at the precise moment that his hospital’s network ended its identificaiton with both Jewish and Long Island.

Daniella and Eli Malakov’s baby was delivered at the stroke of midnight at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park. just as that hospital’s corporate parent changed its name from North Shore LIJ to Northwell Health.

While the hospital corporation took a new name on Jan. 1, Baby Malakov, of Flushing, who weighed in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces, will have to wait: His bris, B”H, is later this week.

Northwell Health’s second baby, Austin Sparacio of Franklin Square, was delivered 31 seconds later at the same hospital. Action surrounding Austin’s birth, filmed for use in a $12-million rebranding campaign, is featured in a TV commercial that debuted within hours of his delivery. The commercial includes emotional footage of mother and child embracing for the first time and concludes with “Happy Birthday, Austin. We have a new name too — Northwell North.”

Northwell Health (formerly North Shore LIJ) system owns 18 hospitals, has three affiliated hospitals (including Maimonides Medical Center in Boro Park), and 450 hospital-affiliated outpatient physician practices, most in Nassau and Queens counties. It expects to deliver more than 42,000 babies in its 21 hospitals in 2016.

Labor and Delivery Nurse Patricia Garofalo said that in her 28 years at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, “I never had a baby delivery exactly at 12 o’clock. … It took their breath away.”

With more than 61,000 employees, Northwell Health describes itself as New York’s largest health provider and largest private employer, accounting for 17 percent of all births in the state and 1 percent nationwide, the hospital said.

“There’s always been a lot of confusion around these health care network” names, said Terry Lynam, Northwell Health’s chief public relations officer, explaining to The Jewish Star why North Shore/LIJ decided to change its corporate name.