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Mostly Cloudy A 'trailer' is not enough
South Nassau must invest in ‘vital and quality health services in Long Beach’
Last week, at the West End Neighbors Civic Association meeting, State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky was asked, “What is the New York State Department of Health’s position on hospital services for the barrier island?”
Kaminsky answered: “There has been a shift in the Department of Health’s view of medical services, where it doesn’t believe the findings of the Berger Report nor does it believe in the creation of hospital beds.”
That is why the Long Beach Medical Center, shuttered since Hurricane Sandy, was not given permission to reopen in June 2013 after extensive renovations to its emergency department, and why St. Vincent’s hospital in New York City was closed.
The Health Department's hospital plan prefers that you don’t make it to the hospital, especially if you are on Medicaid.
A final report of the Commission of Health Care Facilities issued in 2006, known as the Berger Report, included an assessment of Long Beach Medical.
It states: “There are approximately 40,000 residents in Long Beach and its adjacent island communities. There is a relatively large concentration of nursing homes, adult homes and assisted living facilities in Long Beach, and 16 percent of the population is over 65 years old. Because of the concentration of health care and housing facilities for the elderly, summer-time surges in population, recreational and boating facilities, geographical isolation and dependence on draw bridges to access the main land, LBMC, despite its size and unstable financial situation, must remain open so that the community has appropriate access to emergency services and acute care.”
Understanding that the barrier island is experiencing an epidemic in accidental drug overdoses, daily emergency calls for heart attacks and strokes, as well as emergency calls for gunshot wounds — it’s also home to 11 schools — LBMC took immediate steps after Sandy to make the necessary repairs to reopen the West Wing's emergency department.
Under Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations, repairs must be completed before the funds are released, and approximately $20 million in FEMA funds were utilized to make those necessary repairs before June 2013.
