Ford calls for public meeting over fate of LBMC

County Legislator Denise Ford (R-Long Beach) is calling on Long Beach Medical Center’s Chief Executive Officer Doug Melzer to address the public over the fate of the hospital, which remains closed more than a year after Hurricane Sandy.

In a Nov. 13 letter to Melzer, Ford said that many residents remains concerned about the hospital’s status, and that there has been “very little” information about whether a full service hospital with a 911-receiving emergency room will return to the barrier island.

“As the administrator of the Long Beach Medical Center, you have demonstrated a desire to care for and protect the health of our residents and visitors,” Ford wrote. “The uncertainty of the future of this hospital is creating stress throughout our neighborhoods. I believe that an open public meeting with representatives from the hospital board and New York state, along with members of your administration, should be conducted so that the public and employees be fully apprised of the status of the Long Beach Medical Center.”

“If a full hospital is not possible, perhaps we can all work together to come up with a solution that would work best in the years to come,” Ford added. “This facility is very important to our communities and we need to all work together for the benefit of our residents, the businesses and doctors associated with the hospital and the employees who have been displaced.”

LBMC has been shuttered since Sandy; the 162-bed hospital closed after 10 feet of water flooded its basement during Sandy, causing $56 million in damage. All of the major work to allow two wings to open, including the emergency department, was completed in June.

But the state Department of Health blocked the facility from reopening, after Shah said that LBMC, which had lost more than $2 million per year since 2008, had failed to produce a sustainable health care business plan that would meet the needs of the Long Beach community. The state called on the hospital to close its acute care service, declare bankruptcy and merge with South Nassau Communities Hospital, saying that it should function as a freestanding emergency department with urgent care and primary care services.