Seems LICH is Really on its Way Out This Time
The writing’s been on the wall for a long time, but now there’s no confusing the message: Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn Heights Cobble Hill is almost certainly closing, according to The New York Times. The paper reports that the hospital is likely to begin closing next month “after a decision by the Cuomo…
The writing’s been on the wall for a long time, but now there’s no confusing the message: Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn Heights Cobble Hill is almost certainly closing, according to The New York Times. The paper reports that the hospital is likely to begin closing next month “after a decision by the Cuomo administration to delay grants to help finance a merger intended to rescue the institution.” LICH was supposed to get $22 million in state grants, and if the money doesn’t come through, Stanley Brezenoff, president of Continuum Health Partners—which owns the facility—says the hospital “would run out of cash by mid-March. At that point, he said, he would be forced to begin bankruptcy proceedings and move forward with closing the hospital and laying off its 2,500 employees. Without the state money, Mr. Brezenoff said, Continuum could not complete moving the hospital under the SUNY umbrella. Mr. Brezenoff said that he was already putting together a draft closing plan and preparing to send out termination notices. He said that because the conversation with the state was so recent, he had not yet warned the employees that the merger might be called off.” Update: Thanks to the border patrol who helpfully pointed out that this is in Cobble Hill, goddammit, not Brooklyn Heights!
Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn May Close [NY Times]
Kandiruacu;
Just curious. Do you think Sarah Palin is behind this closure? Surely it must be her and Fox News, right?
A few people here have it right- some need to be better informed before they offer an opinion, while still others like Rob can be ignored with no problem.
It’s true that Continuum sucked LICH dry- to the tune of $140 million which went to its flagship hospitals in manhattan at the expense of healthcare here. Those of you who work in healthcare understand what poor funding and crushingly high patient/ provider ratios do to even the best and the brightest. Does anyone remember the scandal involving LiCH’s now-incarcerated former president, Rita Battles? Google it.
LICH may just survive- but these cuts are racist to the core. Banks can be bailed at any expense but hospitals are allowed to bleed slowly to death. with union workers losing benefits inch by inch, incurring the wrath of FOX news and suckers like *rob*, while the do-nothing union mis- leadership tells rank-and-file to relax and insult the history of fighting that they were founded on.
Yes, this is a serious business. Defend every hospital, every patient at all costs; demand from the city, state not one cut because, my brownstoners, while its services are in need of overhaul and much is to be desired, more people rely on hospitals like LICH on an average day than you might realize. This battle is, quite literally, life or death.
This is disgraceful. I do not understand how the powers that be can justify closing hospitals when the population of brooklyn is only growing. I used to work for Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge which recently closed (about 3 years ago) and the closest hospitals saw a significant increase in patients in the Er and Labor and Deliver. And Victory was a very small hospital. I just delivered my second baby and my scheduled induction was switched 3 times (back and forth from Methodist to Lutheran) because Methodist had too many inductions scheduled for that day. If LICH closes, delivering in Brooklyn will be even more ridiculous. I heard that recently at Maimonides the women recovering after delivery had to be housed in the conference room because they were that full! DISGRACEFUL!
My four year-old son had a febrile seizure two weeks ago and was rushed by ambulance to LICH. He was given great treatment at a hospital my family has gone to for thirty years, thank God on rare occasion. The hospital has gotten much better over the past few years
Continuum seems to be a scam overall. We need this hospital. Terribly sad news overall.
I was in LICH once for an ovenight stay – not so bad (not great, but most hospitals aren’t.(I was in hospital administration for years) But all of my docs, including my primary care doc, are in that area and linked to the hopsital. (My primary care doc is brilliant – and she practices in the primary care clinic on the campus). What hasn’t been mentioned is that Millenuum bled LICH for years – really starving it, while putting their bucks in Manhattan hospitals. That really sucks.
It’s not just hospital beds and an ER that we lose – it’s also all the related speciality services that are affiliated with LICH, as well as all of the primary care. There’s a huge ripple effect when a hospital closes.
The affiliation with Downstate (which does have a very good training reputation) sounded like a good deal for all – my docs were optimistic.
Living from Crown Hts, I have used the Kingsbrook ER twice in the past 5 years for fairly serious problems. Both times, I was treated very well and very quickly. I can’t say that one is taken immediately at every time of day, but once I was on a gurney in the ER, talking to a doctor 15 minutes after I walked in the door. The second time was perhaps a few minutes longer, but still very quick. The ER nurses and doctors (and nurses aides) were all very nice and I have no complaints at all about them. The second time. this past summer, I was admitted to the hospital and I have to say that, again, I was treated very well. Kingsbrook will certainly not be confused with NY Hospital in terms of physical plant, but it really wasn’t bad at all. While it may not be convenient for those in CH, it’s not really all that far from PS and some other nabes.
I was thinking of a small city hospital or clinic that is right in the middle of the projects. Brooklyn Hospital is the huge building on the west side of the Park. Got it. It is one of the few area hospitals that I have never been in. I have visited a lot of people in a lot of hospitals over the years but never there.
“THe other thing about NYU is that they don’t take patients without insurance. ”
I had no idea, that would never work here in CH. Need a hospital that takes medicaid for sure.
Minard, I love you to death, but Brooklyn Hospital is NOT in the middle of the projects. Oh, rf just said that. Carry on.