Queens Hospitals Resemble "Third-World Country" by Jaya Saxena- Gothamist

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New data from the American Hospital Association shows that Queens' hospitals are some of the most overcrowded in the country. A combination of hospital closings, a growing population and a high percentage of elderly residents have put the 10 remaining hospitals in the borough in a dangerous position. Kenneth E. Raske, president of Greater New York Hospital Association, told the Wall Street Journal, "They have the lowest bed-to-population ratio of any of the boroughs. It could precipitate a public-health crisis if one of them were to go down."

The recent closing of St. Vincent's hospital has brought to attention the risks of hospital closing, with other downtown Manhattan hospitals becoming crowded after picking up ex-St Vincent's patients, but Manhattan still has the highest bed to resident ratio of any borough, with almost 6 beds per 1,000 residents. Queens has the lowest, with only 1.7 beds per 1,000 residents. Queens has lost almost 700 beds in the past two years with the closings of Parkway Hospital, St. John's Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital. The closings have put an unnecessary strain on hospitals like Elmhurst Hospital, and many residents prefer schlepping to Long Island for treatment. Emil Silberman of Jamaica Hospital said, "We were designed for tops 60,000 patients a year. We're seeing 135,000. So unfortunately, it's challenging."

However, the Department of Health claims this is the first they've heard of any problems in the past few years, with spokeswoman Claire T. Pospisil saying, "We don't feel that there are not enough beds. We're in contact with many of the hospitals on a regular basis. I'm not aware that there's an issue here." Many of the borough's hospitals are in the process of adding new beds, with New York Hospital Queens adding 80 beds next month. But emergency medicine Diane M. Sixsmith said it would only be an "adequate" addition.

Paterson Failed Queens on Hospital Situation: Weiner by Anna Gustafson - Queens Campaigner

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U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) said the Queens congressional delegation battled to secure stimulus funding that he wanted to be used to keep St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals open, but Gov. David Paterson did not direct the money to Queens’ health care institutions.

“We fought very hard with the stimulus bill to help save those hospitals, and it was not used for that,” Weiner said during an interview with TimesLedger Newspapers staff last Thursday.

Weiner, along with other members of Congress, worked to include the funds meant for the hospitals in the stimulus bill the House passed Jan. 28. The Senate passed its bill Feb. 10, and President Barack Obama signed it into law Feb. 17. St. John’s and Mary Immaculate closed at the end of February.

In less than one year, Queens has lost three hospitals: St. John’s in Elmhurst, Mary Immaculate in Jamaica and Parkway in Forest Hills. While Weiner said he wanted to see Parkway remain open, “clear problems of management” shuttered the hospital that is now suing the state to reopen.

St. John’s and Mary Immaculate had their own set of problems, including Caritas Healthcare, the hospitals’ parent company, being deeply mired in more than $40 million in debt. Still, Weiner said the closures might have been avoided had Paterson used the stimulus money for the hospitals as the congressman had hoped.

Paterson’s office did not return a phone call for comment.

During the interview, the congressman focused on his recent efforts to rally support around his single-payer health care plan that has garnered support among more liberal Democrats but not among many moderate and conservative members of Congress.

Weiner has put forward a plan that would eliminate private insurance, arguing such government-run health care programs as Medicare and Medicaid have been more efficiently run than their private counterparts.

“The opponents of the Obama plan say how can private insurance compete with a public plan?” Weiner said.

“They believe it would squash private insurance companies. They agree a public plan would cost less and be less bureaucratic. They agree with the Weiner plan.”

Obama has proposed that Americans must be insured similar to the way drivers are required to purchase car insurance. Individuals could retain their private health insurance or have the option to join a government-run insurance group, otherwise known as the public option, which the president has said would drive down health care costs and force insurance companies to provide more competitive and affordable prices.

The national debate over health care has proved especially controversial this summer, with some Americans screaming at legislators holding town hall-style meetings throughout the country on the issue. While Weiner has not had the type of run-ins that Obama and some other legislators have had, he has faced upset residents.

“There has been visceral anger, which is generated by a misinformation campaign,” Weiner said.

Despite the outbursts at town hall meetings, the majority of Americans want health care reform, according to a poll conducted by CNN at the end of August.

Weiner told TimesLedger he has not yet decided who he will vote for in the six-way Democratic primary Sept. 15. Weiner, who lives in Forest Hills, paid compliments to all the candidates, including his former staffer Mel Gagarin, Heidi Harrison Chain, Albert Cohen, Michael Cohen, Karen Koslowitz and Lynn Schulman.

While the congressman did not say he has definite plans to run for mayor again in 2013, he did say holding the city’s highest seat is “the only job in politics I’d rather have than the one I have now.”

“Who knows what’s going to happen,” Weiner said of the 2013 race. “Maybe the mayor will be running for a fourth term.”

Call Boro New Boomtown - Population Grew by Nearly 3% Since 2000, Census Data Shows by Brendan Brosh - NY Daily News

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AMERICA'S MOST diverse county is booming in the new millennium.

Queens' population increased about 2.9% between 2000 and July 2008 - meaning 63,628 more people now call the borough home, according to figures released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

That far outpaces the growth projected by the city, which estimated in 2006 that Queens would grow by 50,295 people by the end of the decade.

New Yorkers who may have considered moving to Sunbelt locales such as Florida, Nevada, California and Arizona chose to stay because those areas have borne the brunt of the recession, the Census report shows.

"We're seeing something remarkable in Queens - more immigrants are coming in than domestic migrants are leaving," said Joseph Salvo of the City Planning Department. "Even though we have foreclosures and other problems, it's not as bad as in other parts of the country."

The city as a whole has 355,432 more people than it did in April 2000, the report states.

Some of the city's projections are still on pace. The Bronx is slated to grow by 68,544 people by 2010.

Some locals hope the city will use the numbers to increase infrastructure funding.

"Queens is bursting at the seams - and a lot of that has to do with infrastructural issues," said Paul Graziano, president of the Historic Districts Council and an urban planning consultant.

"It's always been 'build first, ask questions later' in New York City," he said.

The Census report notes Queens grew by some 15,000 people between July 2007 and July 2008. Much of the growth was in the Rockaways, where hundreds of homes were built.

"In the last four years, our population went up at least 10,000 people because of all the building," said Jonathan Gaska, district manager of Community Board 14.

The peninsula is slated for even more construction.

"In a few years, Rockaway could have another 25,000 to 35,000 people," Gaska said.

Despite the growth, Queens recently lost two hospitals - Mary Immaculate in Jamaica and St. John's Queens in Elmhurst - which concerns local civic groups.

"Between Jamaica Bay and the Grand Central Parkway, we are extremely underserved in the number of hospitals," said Corey Bearak, head of the Queens Civic Congress, an umbrella organization for community groups.

"It's clear that we need to be focused and prioritized on infrastructure."

Closed Hospitals Lead to Influx of Patients at Others by John Lauinger - NY Daily News

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Emergency room doctors at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center used to notice that patient volume followed a pattern each week - starting with a big uptick on Mondays and Tuesdays.

"And then it would sort of correct itself during the course of the week," said Dr. Geoffrey Doughlin, the hospital's chairman of emergency medicine.

But ever since two neighboring hospitals - Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica and St. John's Queens in Elmhurst - filed for bankruptcy in early February, that pattern has been thrown out of whack.

"The problem is that, in the last couple of weeks, it's not really correcting during the course of the week," Doughlin said.

As Queens residents began seeking new health care options as the bankrupt hospitals prepared to shut down, volume at Jamaica Hospital's ER began "trending upward in a very significant fashion," Doughlin said.

And things may get worse. Mary Immaculate and St. John's Queens were closed Sunday as part of the bankruptcy plan for embattled hospital operator Caritas Health Care.

Mary Immaculate used to have a trauma center. That means Jamaica Hospital, which also has a trauma center, will be forced to pick up much of the slack.

In early January, before the Caritas bankruptcy, Jamaica Hospital's ER averaged no more than about 350 patients a day, but now the number is approaching 400, Doughlin said.

"There is never a minute to relax. There is no down time," he said. "The problem is that everything gets stressed a little bit more. You have to work faster and still try to give every patient the right kind of care, not make mistakes. It stresses every part of the system."

In an attempt to compensate for the 400 beds lost at the Caritas hospitals, the state Health Department recently spread $14.3 million between seven neighboring hospitals to pay for upgrades to inpatient and ER capacity.

Jamaica Hospital and its affiliate, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, got $4.5 million. The former is expanding its ER, adding four intensive care beds and 40 inpatient beds. Flushing Hospital will add 21 inpatient beds.

North Shore-LIJ Health System got $3.5 million for upgrades at Forest Hills Hospital and Franklin Hospital in Valley Stream. At the Forest Hills ER, which has seen patient volume increase by about 50 patients a day, space will be added to treat an additional 12,800 patients annually, said spokesman Terry Lynam.

Both Forest Hills and Jamaica Hospitals are hiring staff to cope with the influx of new patients, but the state aid covers only capital costs to increase capacity, Jamaica Hospital spokesman Ole Pedersen said.

jlauinger@nydailynews.com

Statement from Council Member Crowley on St Johns Closing and Health Care in Queens

March 2, 2009; Queens, NY – Council Member Elizabeth Crowley released this statement:

"To my great sadness, I was among the crowd of former St. John’s employees at the midnight Vigil on Saturday for the closing of the hospital," said Council Member Elizabeth Crowley.

"I heard their fears and I share their outrage that Governor Paterson and the Department of Health could not allocate the necessary funds to keep this hospital open. The consequences of its closure are devastating: thousands of people are out of work during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression; local businesses will take a tremendous hit; and access to health care for Queen’s residents has become an even greater challenge. While I continue to support the staff and their families through city agencies, I will pressure Governor Paterson to find a solution that meets the needs of the people of Queens."

Comptroller Thompson Urges FDNY-EMS to Disclosure Plans to Address Closures of Two Queens Hospitals

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today called on the New York City Fire Department to disclose its plans to address the impact of the planned closures of Mary Immaculate and St. John’s Queens hospitals.

In a letter to Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, which can be viewed at http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/, Thompson wrote: “These closures are scheduled to take place by the end of this month, yet there has been no meaningful effort by your office to educate the surrounding communities about how these closures will impact the health and safety of area residents including transition plans for ‘911’ emergency medical response and treatment services.”

Thompson noted that if the two closures occur a total of 15 New York City emergency rooms will have closed since 2002, with four emergency rooms having closed within the last two years. Among the recent closures, Parkway Hospital served some of the same communities as St. John’s Hospital.

“With the City’s economy in decline and as increasing numbers of City residents lose their jobs and health insurance, there will be significant demands on emergency rooms as City residents’ access to primary care decreases,” Thompson wrote. “With capacity already strained, crowded emergency rooms mean longer wait times for patients, fewer ambulances available to take calls, and possibly, diminished health outcomes as some ambulances are forced to travel farther in an emergency.”

Thompson asked that FDNY, which oversees EMS, take the lead in evaluating the impact of the two proposed Queens hospital closures, as well as publicly outline the steps necessary to minimize adverse impacts.

He further recommended that the FDNY hold a public hearing to allow residents an opportunity to provide input. If the closures move ahead as planned, he suggested that FDNY-EMS publish data indicating what effect, if any, the closures have had on ambulance response and turnaround times in the emergency rooms of the next closest hospitals.

Thompson has been advocating to prevent or delay the hospital closures.

In 2006, Thompson issued a report “Emergency Room Care: Will It Be There?,” analyzing the impact of the proposed closure of five hospitals, including Parkway Hospital in Queens. The report detailed how such closures could overwhelm emergency rooms at neighboring hospitals, reduce ambulance availability, and require New Yorkers to travel farther to reach an emergency room. Since then, Parkway Hospital has closed, placing added pressure on the remaining hospitals. If Mary Immaculate and St. John’s close as well, Western and Southwestern Queens will have lost 3 hospitals within two years.

In 2004, Jamaica Hospital, the closest hospital to Mary Immaculate, had roughly 100,000 emergency room visits compared to approximately 45,000 at Mary Immaculate. If all of the patients from Mary Immaculate switched to Jamaica Hospital, this would represent an almost 50% increase in activity.

$18M Won't Save Doomed Hospitals by Ben Hogwood - Queens Chronicle

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(photos by Michael O’Kane)

The state will hand out $18 million for Queens health-care — but two hospitals begging for money won’t see a penny of it.

The state announced on Tuesday that it will provide $14.5 million to expand capacity at eight borough health-care facilities to offset the closure of St. John’s Queens Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica. The facilities are set to close permanently on Feb. 27.

It will also make up to $3 million available to help retrain, counsel and find jobs for employees being displaced.

The announcement dashed the hopes of some workers, who have been hitting the pavement and going to civic meetings this past week in an attempt to convince anyone they can that the hospitals are worth saving.

St. John’s nurse Kim Zambrotta has been a leading figure in the effort to save the hospitals. Now, she said the process is too far along to stop it.

Zambrotta believes the state could have funneled some of the $18 million to the hospitals to keep them open, at least long enough for the state to receive its share of the $787 billion economic recovery package that recently passed in Congress.

“They could have trickled that money back to us,” she said. “They could have put a little band-aid on our hemorrhage.”

Zambrotta was returning with a bus full of other hospital employees that traveled to Gov. David Paterson’s Manhattan office on Wednesday for a peaceful protest. No one from the governor’s office came down to speak with the workers. Instead, the police read them their rights and they soon disbursed.
Police made no arrests.

The two hospitals are operated by Caritas Health Care, a subsidiary of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. Caritas filed bankruptcy and closure plans in early February, but the closing process went into high gear Saturday morning when all admissions were terminated.

In an attempt to prevent that from happening, workers, community leaders and supporters rallied outside St. John’s, begging, pleading and even attempting to shame Paterson into keeping the hospitals open just a little longer.

“We need help from the governor and we need it immediately,” said Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village). “Lives are in danger.”

It didn’t work. On Tuesday, the front doors were locked; visitors and workers had to use a side door for entrance.

The hospitals have also laid off a large number of their staff. Carlos Quiles, a nurse at St. John’s, was one of those contacted over the weekend and told not to show up to work anymore. “We weren’t even allowed to come in and clear out our lockers,” Quiles said.

Some don’t see how the borough could handle the shutdown. Keith Chiu, a Caritas paramedic, said the situation wasn’t dire over the weekend because people were out of town due to a federal holiday. Still, it was bad enough. “I worked this weekend and it was crazy around the hospital,” Chiu said, expecting it only to get worse.

But State Health Commissioner Richard Daines said in a prepared release that the $18 million in grants will go a long way to preparing the borough for the fallout.

“These grants will help other health-care facilities in the area expand their capacity to absorb the patients previously handled by these two Caritas hospitals and assist workers in finding new employment,” Daines stated.

The money is broken down as follows:

• — $3.6 million to Health and Hospitals Corporation of New York City to expand inpatient capacity and emergency room services at its Elmhurst and Queens hospital centers.

• — $4.5 million to Medisys to expand inpatient capacity and emergency room services at its Jamaica and Flushing sites.
• — $3.5 million to North Shore LIJ to expand inpatient capacity and emergency room services at its Forest Hills and Valley Stream sites.
• — $2.7 million to Wyckoff Medical Center to expand inpatient and emergency room services.
• — $650,000 to the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Centers to maintain primary and preventative services at the St. Dominic’s Health Care Center.

Community Members Protest Closure Of Queens Hospital by Kathy Young - NY1

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NY1 VIDEO: Hundreds of hospital workers and concerned community members gathered at St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst Friday to protest the closure of the facility.

Councilmember Crowley's Letter to Governor Paterson, et al Re: St John's and Mary Immaculate Hospital Closures

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The above letter written last Monday was sent to Governor Paterson, Speaker Silver, Senate Majority Leader Smith and the NYS Department of Health Commissioner Richard Daines by NYC Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley.

Comptroller Thompson Calls on State Department of Health to Reconsider Closures of Mary Immaculate and St. John's Hospitals

-- Charges That State Has No Plan; Patients May Suffer--

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. at a recent rally in Queens to protest the looming closures of St. John's Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital.

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today called on the New York State Department of Health (SDOH) to reconsider or delay the closures of Mary Immaculate and St. John’s Queens hospitals planned for the end of the month.

In a letter to Commissioner Richard Daines, which can be viewed at www.comptroller.nyc.gov, Thompson wrote: “SDOH has not publicly disclosed its plans to address the consequences of these closures. SDOH has also failed to address concerns including how nearby emergency rooms such as the one at Jamaica Hospital will be able to absorb an expected 50 percent increase in demand.”

Thompson charged that the SDOH made little effort to engage the community and stakeholders in its closure plans, despite knowing that the hospitals were in financial trouble.

“With the City’s economy in decline, these closures are poorly timed from both a health care and economic perspective,” Thompson continued. “As increasing numbers of City residents lose their jobs and health insurance, there will be significant demands on emergency rooms as City residents’ access to primary care decreases. With capacity already strained, crowded emergency rooms mean longer wait times for patients, delayed ambulance response times, and possibly, diminished health outcomes.”

Thompson also expressed concerns regarding patient notifications and coordination with providers to ensure the continuity of care for out-patients. He also questioned how remaining hospitals will absorb the financial impact of increased patient loads.

Thompson called on the SDOH to reconsider or delay the closures of the facilities until the concerns he raised are addressed.

Over the last month, Thompson has been advocating to prevent the closures of the hospitals and previously called on the State to find a solution that would be equitable for the residents and hospital employees.

In 2006, Thompson issued a report “Emergency Room Care: Will It Be There?,” analyzing the impact of the proposed closure of five hospitals, including Parkway Hospital in Queens. The report detailed how such closures could overwhelm emergency rooms at neighboring hospitals, reduce ambulance availability, and require New Yorkers to travel farther to reach an emergency room. Since then, Parkway Hospital, which was located near Mary Immaculate Hospital in Forest Hills has closed, placing added pressure on the remaining hospitals. If Mary Immaculate and St. John’s close as well, Western and Southwestern Queens will have lost 3 hospitals within two years.

In 2004, Jamaica Hospital, the closest hospital to Mary Immaculate, had roughly 100,000 emergency room visits compared to approximately 45,000 at Mary Immaculate. If all of the patients from Mary Immaculate switched to Jamaica Hospital, this would represent an almost 50% increase in activity.

Health Care Crisis in Queens - Stop the Closings of St John's Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital...

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We must stop the closings of St. John’s Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital...

This is an urgent cry to the community for your assistance in saving our hospitals.

Please join on a trip to Albany on Wednesday, February 11 as we speak with your elected officials to stop these closures from taking place.

Call (718) 558-1198 to reserve your seat on the bus. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to join us in Albany as well.

Because before you know it, St. John’s Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate
Hospital will disappear. Don’t let them disappear without a fight.

Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Place: Main Entrance of St. John’s Queens Hospital
Time: Buses for Albany leave promptly at 7:30 a.m.

After Hospitals Save Fire Victims, Rep. Weiner Fights to Save Hospitals - Calls for 90-Day Reprieve

'Hospital Closings Would Be Too Great a Loss,’ Weiner Says

After Mary Immaculate Hospital treated family members who suffered from injuries as a result of a fire, Representative Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens) renewed calls for the State Department of Health to keep both St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals open. Both hospitals filed for bankruptcy and are currently awaiting the state to provide additional temporary aid to avoid closure.

The family, which included a 29 year-old mother and two young children ages 5 and 9, were in critical condition and treated at Mary Immaculate and Jamaica hospitals. A fire broke out in their two-story Ozone Park home. The family was then transferred to the burn unit at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Rep. Weiner pointed out the critical role of these hospitals and the countless lives saved. In a recent letter to the State Department of Health, Rep. Weiner called for granting hospitals a 90-day reprieve to create a restructuring plan. The two hospitals service approximately 200,000 Queens residents and employs 2,500 medical and health-care workers.

Rep. Weiner said, “Every Queens resident deserves quality, affordable health care. The closing of St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals would be too great a loss. We must give them a lifeboat so that they can continue to provide excellent care that residents have been receiving for decades.”