FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 11, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
State puts temporary hold on proposals to cut capacity and
services at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards announced during a press conference
on Friday, March 5, that the state’s
proposals to drastically cut capacity and
services at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
(SJEH) have been put on hold by Gov.
Andrew Cuomo’s offi ce.
Richards was joined by several southeast
Queens elected offi cials, community
leaders and workers of SJEH outside of
the hospital for a scheduled press conference
meant to vehemently condemn the
three diff erent proposals developed by
the New York State Department of Health
(NYSDOH) and a consulting fi rm, that he
said would “gut” the safety net hospital.
“Today was supposed to be a day where
we would continue to fi ght about the
… ridiculous proposals that were put
in place that would decimate this hospital,”
Richards said. “But I’m happy to say
based on the work of all of us coming
together — and that means elected offi -
cials who came together when we got the
news, including the staff of St. John’s, and
most importantly, you, the community —
because of you, we have got a reprieve of
keeping St. John’s hospital moving.”
Elected offi cials explained the reprieve
came within the last 24 hours, aft er the
community rallied to stop the only fullservice
hospital in the peninsula — where
the fi rst COVID-19 case in Queens was
identifi ed nearly a year ago — from
undergoing drastic cuts.
“We came together immediately and
went to the governor’s offi ce, and said,
‘What’s going on?’” Congressman Gregory
Meeks said.
One of the proposals favored by the
state, according to information shared
with QNS, included transforming the hospital
into a “micro hospital,” which would
reduce beds from 257 to 15, close services
like pediatrics and labor and delivery, and
eliminate more than 1,000 jobs.
All of the proposals would mean
Rockaway residents would have to travel
to their nearest hospitals, between Mount
Sinai South Nassau and Jamaica Hospital
Medical Center, for full-service needs —
which can take more than 30 minutes by
car or more than an hour by public transit.
“Th ey immediately went to work, and
yesterday informed all of us, collectively,
that funding for St. John’s Episcopal
Hospital will maintain the same,” Meeks
said.
However, the elected offi cials and SJEH
leadership cautioned that the reprieve is
only temporary.
While Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano,
who chairs the SJEH board, thanked the
elected offi cials, the community and
Cuomo for the temporary hold, he
said “there is a disconnect” between
the governor’s messaging about
healthcare disparities and the state’s
budgetary proposals.
“We’ve been here before,”
Provenzano said. “It makes
no real sense to any of us
who are trying to provide
quality healthcare to at-risk
communities to have this
cycle in which our state
government is wanting to
balance the budget on
the backs of the most
needy communities.
Governor Cuomo himself
said that the COVID-19
pandemic was so hard felt by communities
at risk because prior to COVID-19 they
lacked the quality healthcare … while he
was saying that very thing, the proposal
was being delivered to us that would have
left this hospital as a micro hospital, serving
a growing community.”
State Senator James Sanders encouraged the
community to continue organizing to help
build out the hospital and southeast Queens.
Th e nonprofi t, privately run hospital
primarily treats Black and Brown
communities of the Rockaways who
have been historically underserved
and disproportionately impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It serves more
than 130,000 residents in
the peninsula.
All of the proposals
presented to SJEH
would have resulted in
more than 1,000 jobs
lost for the next fi scal
year, which begins in April
2021. Th e hospital currently
employs about 1,700 people,
according to a SJEH offi cial.
Assemblyman Khaleel
Anderson called the
reprieve a “temporary victory.”
“We cannot close our eyes
to the threats that are being
cast on this hospital,” said Anderson, adding
the proposals showcased “medical racism.”
“Healthcare is one of the largest employers
in history on this peninsula, with over 44
percent of our employment on this peninsula
being in the healthcare industry. A loss
of this hospital would’ve been a loss of jobs,
would’ve been a loss of livelihoods, would’ve
been a loss of homes and it would’ve been a
loss for our community.”
Dr. Germán Antonio Reyes, a representative
of 1199SEIU who works at SJEH,
said although news of the reprieve is
good, there is still “a lot of work to do.”
“Rather than see our services diminished,
we need to see St. John’s grow. We
need to see the services provided to our
community grow. We need to see this
community protected and invested in, not
under-invested in,” Reyes said.
Anderson added that they have to “get
stronger” on the role of private consultants
negotiating their healthcare, referring to
ToneyKorf Partners, LLC, the consulting
fi rm paid for by the state that came up with
cost-reduction measures for the hospital.
“Th ere’s no rhyme or reason that private
consultants almost got rid of our hospital,
private consultants who have a track
record of destroying healthcare in our
communities,” Anderson said.
Bishop Provenzano also criticized the
consulting fi rm and the state for not
understanding the need of the immediate
communities, even aft er SJEH provided
a study by an outside fi rm indicating the
need for more accessible healthcare.
“I think it’s important to understand
that the underlying motivation here is for
the state not to have to be fi scally responsible
for the safety net hospital,” he said.
SJEH is located in the 11691 ZIP code,
which includes the communities of Far
Rockaway and Edgemere, and was ranked
the second-most deadly in New York City
at the height of the pandemic.
According to the NYC Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene’s COVID-19
database, 11691 has recorded 418 confi
rmed COVID-19 deaths and has a fatality
rate of 625 per 100,000 residents as of
March 3 — the third- and fourth-highest of
any ZIP code in New York City, respectively.
Richards said that lack of investment in
healthcare is a borough-wide issue.
“We have the lowest hospital beds per
capita. You look at the population here,
we’re growing,” Richards said. “I visited
just about all nine hospitals in Queens,
you hear the same thing over and over
again, the need for more hospital beds.”
NYSDOH’s spokesperson Erin Silk previously
told QNS that they’ve increased
funding for SJEH in the last two years,
and have not required SJEH to implement
any of the proposals.
“Th e Department looks forward to
working with the leadership of St. John’s
Episcopal, together with the workers,
elected offi cials and other stakeholders, in
reviewing these options, among others, to
fi nd a solution that will work for all parties,”
Silk said. “In the meantime, the state
is continuing to provide substantial operating
support to St. John’s Episcopal.”
Bishop Lawrence C.
Provenzano speaks during the
press conference outside St. John’s
Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway.
Healthcare workers atttend the press conference at St. John’s Episcopal
Hospital in Far Rockaway.
Dr. Germán Antonio Reyes speaks during the press conference outside of
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway.
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and elected offi cials hold a press conference outside
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway.
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
