Chamber tours SNCH's new emergency department

Long Beach Chamber of Commerce officials had the opportunity to tour South Nassau Communities Hospital’s emergency department on July 6. Chamber President Mark Tannenbaum, along with Stanley Fleischman, chairman emeritus, and Executive Director Janet Cohen toured the facility with Dr. Joshua Kugler, South Nassau’s director of emergency services, and Joe Calderone, SNCH’s senior vice president of communications.

 “Just seeing how impressive this ER is tells me that when the time comes for SNCH to create a new hospital for the barrier island and Island Park, we can expect a spectacular facility,” Tannenbaum said.

 The facility is currently open to treat urgent-care patients — though the facility has received approval to open by the state Department of Health, the project has been tied up by red tape at the federal level, officials said. SNCH had originally planned to open the emergency department by July 1, after an $8 million upgrade to the Long Beach Urgent Care Center, but has not received approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice and local officials called on federal regulators to approve South Nassau’s request to open and operate the 24-hour, 911-receiving emergency department.