Kaminsky calls on state to address lack of hospital

Says Health Deptartment should hold forum

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With residents and local officials demanding more details about the future of health care in Long Beach, State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky is calling on the New York State Department of Health to hold a public forum in the aftermath of the Long Beach Medical Center’s sale to South Nassau Communities Hospital last year.

In a letter to State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker on Monday, Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, wrote that the absence of a hospital on the barrier island has created a “dangerous and untenable situation” for residents (letter, page 29).

“The residents of my community have been without a hospital for two and a half years,” Kaminsky wrote. “A public forum is imperative, not only because it is required by law, but additionally so that officials from DOH can hear directly from residents who are impacted by LBMC’s closure.”

He added that the Health Department is required to hold a public forum following the closure of a hospital and issue a report on how the community’s needs will be addressed. He also mentioned $154 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding earmarked for South Nassau to invest in a 24-hour emergency department in Long Beach and other health care services in surrounding communities, but pointed out that SNCH “will likely not restore all or even a significant amount of services [in Long Beach] LBMC previously provided.

“So that your agency can better assess SNCH’s decisions with respect to the breadth of medical services it intends to offer the community,” Kaminsky continued, “I suggest that you listen to members of the community themselves concerning the services they require.”

“We don’t have what we should, and there’s no doubt that having some state oversight is important, and I want the Department of Health to be part of the process,” he told the Herald. “There is nothing stopping them from holding a hearing right now or, at the very least, from planning to do so.”

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