South Nassau unveils hospital plans

A rendering of the proposed medical arts pavilion that would be built on the former Long Beach Medical Center campus includes a 24/7 emergency department. (Photo courtesy South Nassau Communities Hospital)

Courtesy South Nassau Communities Hospital

A rendering of the proposed medical arts pavilion at the site of the old Long Beach Medical Center. The new facility would function as a 24/7 emergency department and include other medical services.

Photos by Susan Grieco/Herald

South Nassau President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Murphy presented unveiled plans for a new medical arts pavilion at a press conference at the Long Beach Hotel on Tuesday, prior to its public information day.

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South Nassau Communities Hospital released plans on Wednesday to build a two-story, 30,000-square-foot emergency department on the site of the former Long Beach Medical Center, almost two and a half years after LBMC was forced to shut its doors due to damage sustained during Hurricane Sandy.

The new facility, which would be called the South Nassau Medical Arts Pavilion at Long Beach, would include an off-campus, hospital-based emergency department and other services intended to restore much-needed medical services on the barrier island. The complex would include 16 ambulance bays, and would have an emergency room that would operate 24 hours a day and receive 911 calls. Once plans are approved, construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months.

South Nassau said it plans to use a portion of $154 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for the project, which is estimated to cost between $30 million and $40 million. South Nassau President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Murphy said he hoped to see construction completed by late 2016 or early 2017, depending on how soon the plans are approved by the state Health Department.

“This new pavilion demonstrates our commitment to Long Beach, Point Lookout, Lido Beach, Atlantic Beach and residents across the barrier island,” Murphy said at a press conference at the Long Beach Hotel on Wednesday morning. “It is essentially a ‘hospital without beds,’ and will go a long way to addressing the community’s medical needs.”

The announcement came on the same day that South Nassau held an information day to discuss its plans with the public, amid pressure from residents and local officials, many of whom have been calling for a full-service hospital.

Murphy, however, said that rebuilding such a facility in Long Beach is not viable. “It’s a legitimate concern, but the nature of health care delivery today is large, regional medical centers,” he told reporters. “A hospital the size that Long Beach [Medical Center] was was difficult to operate before the storm. A full-service facility on Long Beach is not going to have the population-density demographic to support it.”