Welcome to The One
By Amanda Rosillo | Photos Courtesy of NewYork-Presbyterian
The first time James McKiernan’93 visited what would become Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian’s newest outpatient location in White Plains, New York, in 2023, it was a PepsiCo office building filled with desks, old printers, and isolated cubicles. By his next visit a year later, it was a completely gutted and bustling construction site.
This June, when arriving for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Dr. McKiernan was awestruck to enter the vaulting, entirely transformed space that is now NewYork-Presbyterian The One: a 25-acre facility that brings distinctively advanced and integrated ambulatory care to Westchester County. “We’re not just replicating what we do in the city—we’re improving it and bringing it here,” says Dr. McKiernan, the John K. Lattimer Professor of Urology, senior vice dean for clinical affairs, and CEO of ColumbiaDoctors. “There’s nothing like it in Westchester County at this scale.”
The 240,000-square-foot center, which started welcoming patients in September, offers some impressive numbers: It houses nearly 200 clinical rooms in the ColumbiaDoctors practice, 10 operating rooms, 20 infusion bays, a diagnostic imaging suite, interventional radiology, a state-of-the-art physical and occupational therapy rehabilitation gym, and a cafeteria. Patients of all ages can get care across over 90 specialties and subspecialties with the latest technology, treatments, and access to clinical trials.
But for providers and patients alike, The One is more than just a building—it represents a new model of care that blends highly specialized expertise with a comprehensive, coordinated approach that treats the whole person, rather than isolated symptoms.
“The principle was that we wouldn’t open regular doctor’s offices. Instead, we formed multidisciplinary Centers of Excellence around women’s health, men’s health, children’s health, cardiovascular health, and neurosciences, where patients could see multiple doctors in one building who are all top experts in their fields,” says Dr. McKiernan. “It’s such a better way to provide health care.”
Bringing Back Synergy
For George Christolias, MD, assistant professor of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine at VP&S and medical director for ColumbiaDoctors at The One, this model is an urgently needed shift within a medical landscape that has become increasingly fragmented. “With specialization comes extreme expertise, leading-edge technologies, and state-of-the-art procedures,” he says. “But something is also lost, which is the holistic approach of our family physicians from when we were young.”
Such an approach is invaluable for managing health in the short and long term. Rather than addressing symptoms in siloes, The One is designed to serve each patient with 360-degree care, allowing providers to contextualize concerns within the bigger picture, leading to more informed and personalized treatments. This also results in a more unified patient experience—one characterized by continuity and convenience as opposed to juggling disconnected referrals across office locations.
The One’s Centers of Excellence offer the best of both worlds: internationally recognized experts who collaborate across disciplines to treat patients from all angles, no matter what brings them in.
Consider a hypothetical patient who has cancer. At The One, their treatment would extend beyond oncology, incorporating the expertise of cardiologists, hepatologists, and other specialists, with resources like rehabilitation therapy and behavioral health services—all available on-site.
Breast cancer specialist Melissa Accordino, MD, associate professor of medicine at VP&S and the hematology/oncology lead for The One, believes this approach can make all the difference for patients. “It’s a huge team sport,” she says. “It really sets us apart from other institutions in the area.”
A New Northern Frontier
The One isn’t Columbia’s and NewYork-Presbyterian’s first foray into Westchester; offices in Bronxville, Tarrytown, and farther north have provided outpatient care on a smaller scale for roughly a decade. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the virus ravaged New York City and people grew fearful of leaving home, it became increasingly difficult for suburban communities to access the more advanced care available at Columbia’s Manhattan locations.
This isolation magnified an existing problem that had been weighing on both patients and providers for a long time: the commute.
The unpredictable city traffic, combined with the financial burdens of paying for tolls, parking, and child care, and taking hours off work for an appointment, would wear anyone down. For people who need regular medical treatment, the inconvenience and stress make an already difficult situation even worse.
Dr. Accordino has seen too many patients at the main campus who’ve had to receive their cancer treatments alone because their loved one or caregiver couldn’t find a place to park and was circling the block below for a spot.
“For many patients, it’s just too much,” says Dr. Accordino. “People shouldn’t have to choose between their time and quality of life or getting the best possible care.”
As “a northern version of the medical center,” as Dr. McKiernan puts it, The One removes that choice, combining amenities like a large parking garage and free valet service with advanced medicine. “This is the largest capital project for outpatient space that we’ve done since 1968, when Herbert Irving Pavilion, originally named for Dana Atchley, was built,” he says. “Now it’s time to deliver on our part of the deal, which is bringing our great doctors and great research.”
Bigger and Better
Columbia’s and NewYork-Presbyterian’s commitment to more accessible care was the guiding vision behind The One as a concept and is reflected in every aspect of the facility itself, from staffing to the space’s physical layout.
Rae Vagg, chief operating officer for ColumbiaDoctors, hopes patients and caregivers sense the difference before they even walk through the door.
“We want to put patients at ease,” says Ms. Vagg. “From convenience and access to customer service, the patient, physician, and provider experiences were at the forefront of our decision-making.”
Natural green spaces featuring outdoor seating and a pond reminiscent of a Japanese garden lead to the main entrance filled with natural light, which has kiosks and clear navigational signage directing visitors to centralized reception desks on each floor. Exam rooms are spacious and largely identical to maximize efficiency and flexibility, with related specialties and those with similar equipment needs located near each other. Behind the scenes, there’s no physical separation of departments, so care teams and providers from different specialties can easily collaborate.
Upon checkout, on-site support staff schedule follow- up and referral appointments for patients before they leave the building—some can even be scheduled for the same day.
“It’s an incredible investment in the Westchester community,” says Aaron Landon, ColumbiaDoctors’ executive director of operations. “A lot of people in Westchester and surrounding areas are already seeking care from Columbia. The One is creating access to everything our main campus offers, close to home. It really is a second-to-none experience for patients locally.”
Strengthening and Transforming Partnerships
Bringing The One to life relied on extraordinary collaboration among the many internal and external partners involved. “Everyone has been very cooperative and enthusiastic,” says Dr. Christolias. “The willingness of Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian to work together to make this happen has been outstandingly, resoundingly positive.”
Ms. Vagg feels similarly, sensing that this massive joint undertaking signals “a new paradigm” in Columbia’s longstanding relationship with NewYork- Presbyterian. “We’re making these forward-looking decisions together,” she says. “I think this establishes the foundation of our partnership moving ahead.”
As for its name, “The One” references several meanings. It’s a nod to the physical street address: 1111 Westchester Ave. It also acknowledges the underone- roof approach to comprehensive care, provided by the No. 1 doctors and hospital in the region.
Whatever the etymology, Dr. Christolias is excited for The One to live up to all its name encompasses. “We all have one life. How can we live that life in the healthiest way possible? By coming to the one place that will deliver on its promise. And sometimes, we have only one chance to get it right.”
Learn more about ColumbiaDoctors at NewYork-Presbyterian The One by visiting columbiadoctors.org/TheOne.