Area hospitals provide relief during, after storm

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Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre is once again fully operational and is currently caring for patients from the Long Beach Nursing Home who were displaced. Christine Hendriks, the vice president of public and external affairs for Catholic Health Services, which Operates Mercy, said a blood drive was held there on Oct. 31 to aid Long Island Blood Services, which would have normally collected 1,000 pints of blood during and immediately after the storm, but was unable to do so.

Hendriks also noted that 15 babies were born in four CHS hospitals, including Mercy, during the storm, but none were named Sandy.

South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside has seen an increase in patients since the storm, but because it is located in an area that is prone to flooding, patients who were evacuated from nearby hospitals could not be transferred there, said Damian Becker, a spokesman for South Nassau.

Becker said that the staff of South Nassau has put in extra effort since Sandy. “The people who work here at this hospital are absolutely committed to the mission and their calling as health care professionals,” he said. “They made sure their families were safe and then wanted to make sure that they could take care of the people we serve here.”

Much like the thousands of Long Islanders who have worried about filling their vehicles since Sandy hit, so too is NUMC. On Nov. 3, Gianelli wrote in a release stating that NuHealth had a limited amount of fuel available for “essential clinical personnel who were concerned about running out of gas and being unable to get to the hospital to take care of their patients.”

A fuel delivery was expected to come on Monday, but in the interim, fuel was made available for essential personnel, Gianelli explained.

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announced last week that all Nassau County hospitals were up and running after the storm, with the exception of the Long Beach Medical Center. Officials from the Long Beach Medical Center recently created a Facebook page to update residents on the ongoing status of the building.

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