FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 4, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 13
‘We’re not taking this lying down’: Community condemns state’s proposal
to transform Far Rockaway medical center to 15-bed ‘micro hospital’
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Nearly a year aft er St. John’s
Episcopal Hospital (SJEH) identifi
ed the fi rst COVID-19 case
in Queens and saw its emergency
room fl ooded with sick
people, the state now wants to
impose drastic cuts to the hospital’s
capacity and services that
would endanger the Rockaway
area.
Last week, the New York
State Department of Health
(NYSDOH) informed SJEH
— the only hospital in the
Rockaway peninsula, serving
more than 13,000 residents per
year — that it wants it to become
a “micro hospital.” Th at would
mean the hospital would need
to reduce its capacity from 250
beds to just 15 beds; close specialty
services like pediatrics and
labor and delivery; and eliminate
more than 1,000 jobs, according
to information shared with QNS.
Th e proposal comes even aft er
the Far Rockaway ZIP code
11691 experienced the secondhighest
number of COVID-19
deaths in New York City.
Reverend Lawrence C.
Provenzano, who chairs the
SJEH board, said the hospital
is “deeply saddened and concerned”
by NYSDOH’s push to
signifi cantly cut the hospital’s
healthcare services, especially
now following the health disparities
the peninsula suff ered, during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Th e Department of Health is
abandoning any consideration
of the documented community
health needs of this overwhelmingly
underserved population,”
Provenzano stated.
Provenzano wants Governor
Andrew Cuomo to take immediate
action to stop NYSDOH
from implementing any plans to
decrease funding and healthcare
services.
Proposals from
NYSDOH’s
consulting fi rm
SJEH is a privately run safety
net hospital, and receives most
of its funding from the state and
federal government in order to
provide healthcare to residents
who may not be able to aff ord it
otherwise. It mainly serves Black
and Latinx residents — communities
that have been historically
underserved.
Plans to implement a “fi nancial
sustainability process,” or ways
to reduce the amount of funding
the hospital receives from
NYSDOH, have been ongoing
since 2018.
In 2019, NYSDOH hired
the consulting fi rm ToneyKorf
Partners, LLC, to fi nd cost-cutting
measures for SJEH. As part
of the consulting fi rm’s plans,
the hospital implemented a $24
million cost savings plan, of
which $15 million came from
cost reductions including management
layoff s at the beginning
of 2020.
As the fi nancial proceedings
continued, SJEH informed
NYSDOH that more cuts in
services and staff could not be
made. Th e hospital even performed
a Community Health
Needs Assessment with an outside
consulting fi rm, indicating
the need for more access to
healthcare services in the immediate
community.
But NYSDOH wanted to further
reduce the state’s funding to
St. John’s by an additional 20 percent,
according to information
shared with QNS.
Now, ToneyKorf presented
SJEH with more cost reduction
plans, off ering three options.
Th e fi rst option would require
the hospital to become a 15-bed
“micro-hospital,” which would
mainly focus on behavioral and
mental health services. Th e
option would only employ a little
over 600 staff members, a signifi
cant reduction of the hospital’s
current 1,700 employees.
Th is option is the state’s preferred
route, according to information
shared with QNS.
Another option would require
the hospital to reduce the number
of beds from 257 to 91 and
eliminate obstetrics, newborn
and pediatric services.
The other option would
require the hospital to become
a 30-bed “healthplex” that
only employs nearly 340 staff
members.
Each option would require
patients who need to be hospitalized
to be transferred to a nearby
hospital, as urgent care beds
would be limited. One of the
closest hospitals is Mount Sinai
South Nassau, a 30- to 45-minute
car drive from SJEH.
Th e plans would be implemented
for fi scal year 2022,
which begins in April.
A NYSDOH spokesperson did
not respond to requests for comments
prior to publication.
‘Where are they
going to go?’
Dr. Teddy Lee, chairman of
SJEH’s emergency department,
said he doesn’t see the logic
behind any of the options.
Lee recalled their ER being
200 percent over capacity at the
height of the pandemic almost a
year ago, with their hallways and
even their waiting areas doubled
up to treat patients.
“At the same time, we would
usually have at least 10 to 15
ambulances, with stretchers
waiting out the door almost to
the parking lot,” Lee said. “And
those times, our staff would go
out and literally pick out a person
who’s the sickest, and bring
them in, and we treat them that
way.”
Last May, Th e New York
Times showcased the harrowing
way healthcare workers treated
patients and had to employ
refrigerated trucks as their
morgue averaged 17 to 18 bodies
a day.
Lee said that while things are
under control now, their emergency
room alone averages
about 48,000 visits per year, prepandemic.
During the pandemic,
they weren’t able to transfer
patients to other facilities.
He doesn’t believe other facilities
will be able to handle added
volumes.
“It’s just not like our community
is pretty well off ; it’s mostly
a very underserved area, and
that’s why they need the most
care,” Lee said. “If you close or
cut the service in this area, where
are they going to go?”
Community leaders are
‘deeply disappointed’
Community leaders and elected
offi cials have expressed deep
disappointment and outrage
with the proposals backed by
the state.
Assemblyman Khaleel
Anderson said the plans are
“wholly unacceptable and completely
insulting to the communities
surrounding the hospital
that are still reeling from the
pandemic and already face tremendous
healthcare insecurity.”
Queens has the lowest number
of beds per capita in the
city, averaging one bed per 1,000
people.
Borough President Donovan
Richards recalled fi ghting to
save the Peninsula Hospital in
Far Rockaway before it closed
in 2012; and, a year later, fi ghting
again for SJEH to be fairly
funded.
“What is a micro hospital?”
Richards told QNS. “Th is makes
no sense. Whoever came up with
this should shred it and throw it
in the garbage. We’re putting on
our marching shoes, just as we
did in 2013. We’re not taking this
lying down. We’re going to stand
up for healthcare workers and
communities of the Rockaways.”
He added the proposed cuts to
labor and delivery units are particularly
“ridiculous,” as the borough
president’s offi ce recently
made a $7 million commitment
to help expand it.
“Is this the way the state treats
its healthcare heroes?” Richards
asked.
1199SEIU Senior Executive
Vice President for Downstate
Health Systems Veronica
Turner-Biggs said their union
members at SJEH “have dedicated
themselves selfl essly throughout
the pandemic to meet the
many needs of the peninsula’s
residents and our union has
fought to make sure that local
healthcare services are preserved
and expanded.”
“Th is proposal must be immediately
withdrawn and the State
Department of Health must
meaningfully engage with stakeholders
to create a path forward,”
Turner-Biggs said.
Assemblywoman Stacey
Pheff er Amato, Councilman Eric
Ulrich and candidates for City
Council District 31 have also
condemned the plans.
“Th is plan is completely inconsistent
with any messaging from
the NYSDOH about equity and
justice in healthcare for historically
underserved Black and
Brown communities, and we will
not allow this to go forward,”
Amato stated.
Community leaders also argue
that doing away with their only
hospital goes against the city
and state’s investments toward
revitalizing the Rockaways and
encouraging more development.
Congressman Gregory Meeks
said the peninsula’s “growing
population, further development,
and inadequate transportation
infrastructure makes this
decision particularly worrisome,
especially considering how hardhit
the Rockaways were by the
ongoing health emergency.”
“To downsize the hospital will
only enhance the racial disparities
that run rampant in our
health care system, and not better
serve the community,” Meeks
stated.
Rev. Dr. Les Mullings, the
founder and CEO of Challenge
Preparatory Charter School in
Far Rockaway, called on every
Queens elected offi cial to call out
the plans.
“I can’t really fathom why anybody
would even remotely consider
cutting services of any
kind, specifi cally of healthcare,
at this time,” Mullings told QNS.
“Any attempt to cut services to
SJEH is a senseless, blatant disregard
to the health and wellness
of the Rockaway community.”
Photo courtesy of SJEH
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital may face signifi cant cuts to services based on state-backed cost-reduction analysis.
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