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Sale of LBMC to South Nassau is finalized

SNCH reaches agreement with FEMA on Sandy aid

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The sale of Long Beach Medical Center to South Nassau Communities Hospital was finalized last week, after South Nassau reached an agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the release of nearly $180 million in Hurricane Sandy aid to SNCH to redevelop health care services in Long Beach and surrounding communities.

In a meeting with Herald editors last week, South Nassau President and CEO Richard Murphy said the two facilities had concluded the $11.8 million sale on Oct. 16, which will not only allow South Nassau to move forward with its takeover of the facility and the establishment of a free-standing emergency department, but will lead to a public forum with the state Department of Health that residents have been calling for.

South Nassau is acquiring 5.5 acres of property, as well as LBMC’s buildings and equipment. The sale does not include LBMC’s Komanoff Center for Geriatric and Rehabilitative Medicine.

“This closing signifies major progress in our effort to fulfill our mission to meet the need for patient-centered health care services in Long Beach and surrounding South Shore communities,” Murphy said. “We’re moving from a complex transactional stage, with intricate legal and regulatory requirements, to a transformational one in which we will focus on how we can provide new medical services.”

The sale closing, he said, hinged on FEMA’s agreement to release the Sandy funds to South Nassau. “We’ve been in negotiations with [FEMA] for about three months, trying to get some assurance that … we would in fact be eligible to make claim on the FEMA damages,” Murphy said.

FEMA may now approve a reimbursement for 90 percent of South Nassau’s investment of up to $176.9 million in new health care facilities, programs and services — including emergency services — that serve areas of high community need, including Long Beach and surrounding communities.

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