Bates, Susana Freelancer
Local leaders are pushing the state to reimburse the cash-strapped St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, in the Rockaways, for the millions it lost due to Hurricane Sandy.
Local leaders are eyeing a prescription that would keep an ailing Rockaway hospital in stable condition.
Two officials introduced a bill to reimburse St. John’s Episcopal Hospital — the only hospital left on the peninsula — the $ 4.3 million it spent sheltering, feeding and caring for thousands of Hurricane Sandy victims.
“They need all the help they can to get back on their feet,” said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Beach), who introduced the bill on Monday. “We’ll beg, borrow and steal to make sure the hospital stays open.”
RELATED: ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL SEEKS TO EXPAND
State Sen. James Sanders (D-South Ozone Park) introduced the bill in the senate.
Goldfeder also sent a letter to Gov. Cuomo this week asking that the hospital receive a portion of the $ 1.2 billion the state sets aside for hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities across the state.
Rockaway counts about 170,000 year-round residents, Goldfeder said. Hundreds of thousands more flock to the peninsula’s beaches during the summer.
RELATED: ELDERLY AND DISABLED SANDY VICTIMS ARE STILL HOMELESS
The 257-bed facility has seen an influx of new patients since Peninsula Hospital closed in 2012. To cut costs, St. John’s recently got rid of its detox center, outsourced some of its clinics and laid off several dozen employees.
During Sandy, the hospital was a beacon for residents.
“Many Rockaway residents waded to the hospital the night of the storm and spent the night in our lobby and got a blanket and a meal,” St. John’s CEO Richard Brown said in a statement. “Many others, who lost electricity or elevator service and had no drugs or medical assistants, stayed at the hospital throughout the storm’s aftermath.”
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St. John’s needs funds to expand its Emergency Department, Brown said.
The ER was built in the 1960s to serve 15,000 patients a year. It now gets 40,000 visits annually.
The health of the hospital is critical for the residents of the Rockaways, said Community Board 14 Chair Dolores Orr.
“For the hospital to now financially suffer for their good deeds is criminal,” said Orr, whose board oversees the peninsula. “They should be reimbursed every penny they incurred protecting the residents of New York City.”
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