BP MARKOWITZ APPLAUDS HEALTH CARE VICTORY AS COMMUNITY EFFORTS LEAD TO STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH’S DECISION TO PRESERVE OBSTETRICS, NEONATAL AND PEDIATRIC SERVICES AT LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL

“I applaud Governor Paterson and the New York State Department of Health for responding to the cry of the residents of the LICH catchment area to preserve the absolutely necessary services that have been offered by this hospital for generations and are vital to the health of our borough.

This could not have happened without the hard work of dedicated community residents and elected officials, as well as concerned LICH physicians and staff, who have all come together to form a very powerful and persuasive advocacy team.

As we have said from the start, closing Long Island College Hospital is not an option.

My office will continue to monitor the situation. We will continue to convene our stakeholder’s group and be vigilant in our advocacy efforts in the days ahead.

This is a solid first step as we move ahead with the real work of ensuring that LICH will remain a full-service hospital in this growing community for all the years to come.”

BP MARKOWITZ HOSTS PUBLIC HEARING ON LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL, ONGOING HEALTH CARE CRISIS IN BROOKLYN

On Monday, November 10, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Special Assistant to the Borough President Yvonne Graham joined nearly 200 concerned residents, elected officials, members of the medical community and others who offered testimony at a public hearing on Long Island College Hospital (LICH) and Brooklyn’s ongoing health care crisis.

“We are open to plans from all quarters,” said BP Markowitz, “from the patients and doctors who attended the hearing, from medical groups and hospitals who have expressed an interest in maintaining these important services in Downtown Brooklyn, and from the current management of Continuum-LICH, if they can offer a plan that preserves these services.”

The public hearing was the latest effort by BP Markowitz to bring all sides together and resuscitate LICH. At a news conference outside the hospital last month, he called on Continuum Health Partners, the parent company of LICH, to go “back to the drawing board” and come up with a workable plan to save the hospital from closure. At the Borough President’s request, LICH is forming a community advisory board—on which the Borough President and elected officials from the hospital’s catchment area will have seats—and it’s expected the first meeting will be held later this month.

BP Markowitz and Special Assistant Graham also convened a stakeholders group that recently gathered for meetings at Borough Hall, and have arranged for elected officials to meet with Continuum President and Chief Executive Officer Stan Brezenoff. BP Markowitz has received assurances from State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Joe Baker, the Governor’s Deputy Secretary for Health and Human Services, that the State will do all it can to monitor the situation at LICH and not rubberstamp any efforts to shutter the facility.

Adds BP Markowitz, “Closing LICH is not acceptable. Cutting back basic services is not acceptable. And we know that LICH is not alone, and that its difficulties are part of the larger health care crisis plaguing Brooklyn and the nation. That is why we’re seeking solutions not only for LICH, but for all health care providers.”

BP MARKOWITZ, CONGRESSWOMAN NYDIA VELÁZQUEZ, DOCTORS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS TO DEMAND IMMEDIATE ACTION TO RESUSCITATE
LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL

1:00 P.M.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14
OUTSIDE LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL
HICKS STREET
BETWEEN ATLANTIC AVENUE AND PACIFIC STREET
COBBLE HILL, BROOKLYN

On Tuesday, October 14, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and Special Assistant to the Borough President Yvonne Graham will join other elected officials, community leaders and members of the medical community at a press conference and rally outside Long Island College Hospital (LICH). The borough president will call for immediate action in saving essential services at the hospital.

BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON PROPOSED LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL CUTS

Statement on Long Island College Hospital announcing plans to close maternity, pediatric and dental units as well as school-based clinics:

“I echo the concerns of the community when I say that this is distressing. This is the second announcement in two months, and despite the assurances of leadership, the situation has seemingly continued to deteriorate. As Borough President, I am not only saddened by plans to pull the plug on several of the basic health care services that have been provided by Long Island College Hospital (LICH) for generations, I am also not pleased that these decisions have been presented by LICH and Continuum as a “done deal” rather than being brought before public officials and others who could potentially have helped prevent such sudden, drastic cutbacks.

It would be one thing if neighborhoods served by LICH were facing significant population decline or the market was not here for services like obstetrics, pediatrics, dentistry, and school clinics—but let’s face it, all you have to do is walk down Court Street, Smith Street or Atlantic Avenue and count the strollers, or see the small children crowding area parks, or check out the number of students over-filling neighborhood schools to know that there is an exploding population of young families in great need of maternity, pediatric, and school-based medical services. Not only that, this community is expecting to grow by 15 to 20 thousand residents in the near future. And let’s not forget the number of seniors in the LICH catchment area who will also need increased, not decreased, services in the days ahead. This should have been seen by hospital leadership as a chance to rise to the occasion and become known as the gold standard in all of these service areas—but instead, the opportunity is being squandered as LICH and Continuum turn their backs on the families of Downtown and “Brownstone” Brooklyn.

Certainly, in the recent past we have seen other Brooklyn hospitals struggling, and we know that Long Island College Hospital is not alone in dealing with the challenges of this financial climate, but I strongly believe that better, more proactive management at LICH could have stopped this hemorrhaging of red ink by doing things like having a financial risk management plan in place and working closely with a community advisory board. In fact, I am calling on LICH now to do both—form a community advisory board, on which the Borough President will have a seat, by the end of the year and draft both a comprehensive financial plan and risk management plan that will at least protect the hospital’s remaining services.

The closing of LICH is unthinkable, and my office still holds out hope that there may be a way to save the services LICH has threatened to cut. I and my public health policy advisor Yvonne Graham will be reaching out to all groups who may be able to salvage these units—from LICH doctors to unions and interested outside medical groups who have expressed an interest in maintaining these important services in Downtown Brooklyn. We look forward to working with the LICH advisory board when it is formed. We are also convening an emergency task force of health care stakeholders in Brooklyn to assess the big picture of medical care options in this borough and begin to work together to stop the bleeding and restore health to our Brooklyn health care systems.”

—— Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz