47.0°,
Light Drizzle Fog/Mist Health Department to hold hospital meeting in Long Beach
Kaminsky, City Council will host public forum with state
Days after South Nassau Communities Hospital announced it would hold a public information day on March 18 to discuss its plans for the Hurricane Sandy-shuttered Long Beach Medical Center, State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky announced last week that he will host a public meeting with the state Department of Health on April 13, a forum that many say is more in line with the town hall-style meeting that residents have been calling for.
The meeting is also being hosted by the Long Beach City Council, who have also been calling for such a forum.
The meeting will take place at Long Beach City Hall at 7 p.m. Health Department officials expected to attend include Daniel Sheppard, the deputy commissioner of Primary Care and Health Systems Management. Nassau County officials are also expected to attend the hearing, Kaminsky said. Last month, Kaminsky wrote a letter to New York State Commissioner of Health Howard Zucker, saying that the absence of a hospital on the barrier island had created a “dangerous and untenable situation” for residents. He said the Health Department is required to hold a public forum under state law following the closure of a hospital, and issue a report on how the community’s needs would be addressed.
“I am thankful to the DOH for its prompt response to my request to hold a public forum in Long Beach,” Kaminsky said in a statement. “This discussion will allow for officials to hear directly from residents affected by the closing of LBMC and the subsequent lack of vital medical services on the barrier island.”
Kaminsky told the Herald last week that he would host such a hearing with the Health Department in town in the coming weeks. With respect to any new medical facility that SNCH might build, Kaminsky told Zucker in his letter that a hearing is important “so that your agency can better assess SNCH’s decisions with respect to the breadth of medical services it intends to offer the community.”
The meeting was scheduled after the Health Department responded to Kaminsky’s request on Feb. 16.
