Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip has received the largest philanthropic commitment in its history: a $10 million matching pledge from the Donald and Barbara Zucker Family Foundation to expand and modernize its neonatal intensive care unit.

Catholic Health, the hospital's parent system, announced the commitment on October 22. The money is aimed at the hospital's Level III NICU, the only unit of its kind on the South Shore of Suffolk County.

What the new NICU will look like

The expansion plans call for advanced medical equipment and technology, private patient rooms, and dedicated spaces where families can receive counseling, take a break and find support while their newborns are in intensive care.

That last part is a deliberate piece of the design. Justin Lundbye, MD, president of Good Samaritan University Hospital, said in the announcement that NICU teams care for babies at the most vulnerable moment of their lives while also walking alongside parents, and that the project will give families more comfort and privacy while giving clinical teams an environment that matches the care they deliver.

How the $10 million match works

The Zucker Family Foundation's pledge is structured as a dollar-for-dollar challenge rather than a single check. Every qualifying gift from the community will be matched by the foundation, with a goal of raising $10 million in community support over four years, for $20 million in total.

The first milestone is close: Catholic Health is seeking $2.5 million in qualifying community commitments by the end of this year.

A granddaughter's start

The gift is personal for the Zucker family. Barbara Hrbek Zucker said in the announcement that the family's youngest granddaughter needed specialized neonatal care when she was born, that the NICU team helped her get a strong start, and that she is now a thriving little girl. She and her husband want that level of care to remain available to families on the South Shore, which is why the couple directed the gift to Good Samaritan.

Why this hospital

Good Samaritan has long been a regional destination for high-risk pregnancies. The hospital delivered more than 2,500 babies in 2025, and its NICU cares for hundreds of newborns each year. A Level III designation means the unit can care for very premature and critically ill newborns who would otherwise need to be transferred far from home, and the announcement describes the unit as a center of neonatal care for the region.

For a family on the South Shore, the geography is the point. A parent with a baby in intensive care may be making that trip twice a day for weeks. Keeping Level III care in West Islip means those weeks happen minutes from home rather than across the county, which is the case the hospital and the foundation both made in announcing the project.

Gary Havican, Catholic Health's interim president and CEO, said the commitment is about supporting some of the system's smallest, most vulnerable patients and their loved ones, and reflects a shared belief that families facing a premature or medically complex birth should have exceptional care close to home.

How to take part

Community gifts made toward the NICU project qualify for the dollar-for-dollar match, and the first $2.5 million must be committed by December 31. Information on giving is available through Catholic Health and the Good Samaritan University Hospital Foundation at catholichealthli.org, or through the hospital at 1000 Montauk Highway, West Islip.

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