PBMC Names New Campus for Philanthropist Robert Entenmann
Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC) dedicated its new administrative building in downtown Riverhead after the late Robert Entenmann, former chairman of the famous namesake baked goods company, on Friday, June 1. After Entenmann’s death in 2016, his children made a large donation to PBMC as a way to honor their father’s legacy on the East End.
The new Robert Entenmann campus, which will serve as Peconic Bay Medical Center’s administrative headquarters, is located in the former Suffolk County National Bank building at 4 West Second Street. Entenmann’s heirs, Jackie and Robert, donated $5 million through a gift from the Robert Entenmann Advisory Committee to the New York Community Trust to PBMC’s New Era Campaign benefitting cardiac care for the region.
Entenmann’s bakery business began in Brooklyn in 1898, and its baked goods became after-dinner favorites in households throughout the nation. When the Entenmann family decided to sell the renowned business in 1978, then-company chairman Robert Entenmann began looking for new outlets for his energies.
He purchased a farm on Long Island’s rural North Fork and began breeding horses and, later, growing grapes. He also took an interest in the region’s health care resources. Over the years, he became one of the East End’s leading community benefactors and philanthropists.
“Robert Entenmann was not just a community benefactor, he was a community visionary,” PBMC President and CEO Andrew J. Mitchell said at the ceremony. “All of us here on the East End are fortunate to have had him as a neighbor, a friend and a leader of our community. It will warm my heart to see his name every morning when I come to work. It will remind all who come to work here of the legacy we want to live up to.”
The location will provide nearly 40,000 square feet of office space for non-clinical medical staff. Administrative staffers have already relocated, including Mitchell and other PBMC leaders; the Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation; the medical center’s finance, billing and HR operations, as well as the offices of Peconic Bay Home Health Services, which is Suffolk County’s largest certified home health agency.
“Bob Entenmann was the embodiment of generosity,” Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation Chair Emilie Roy Corey said on Friday. “We are grateful that his family has continued his generosity, and we join them in honoring him with today’s dedication ceremonies.”
Once the move is complete, about 150 staff members are expected to have offices in the new campus facilities.
“We’re growing rapidly, and this new downtown campus will be vital for our continued growth,” Mitchell added. “Not only will it free up room within the medical center for additional services and staff, it will also make more parking available for our patients and visitors.”
For more information, visit pbmchealth.org.