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Mostly Cloudy Residents call for hospital reopening
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On May 12, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved the sale of the LBMC to South Nassau. Obtaining FEMA funding was one of the factors in South Nassau’s decision to purchase the facility, attorneys said. Hospital officials said that SNCH must acquire the hospital property in order to build the emergency department.
Murphy responded to the council in a letter on Tuesday, saying that “although the bankruptcy court approved the sale of LBMC to South Nassau, closing on the sale and transfer of Long Beach Medical Center’s assets will take several weeks or months as the transaction requires review from state agencies.”
The approval of an asset purchase agreement opened the door for South Nassau to receive the FEMA funds, pending the agency’s approval of an “alternative use plan” for the facility.
Last week, Murphy said that it could take about six months to develop an alternative use plan — and a year to conduct an assessment of the hospital building. Though $26 million was spent on repairs at the facility, Murphy said that it would take millions more to overhaul or repurpose the hospital.
It is too early to say how much of the FEMA funding will be reimbursed for work in Long Beach and at the SNCH campus, Murphy said, adding that a spending plan would be subject to a federal audit.
“We have to spend the money before we get the money,” said Bill Ulrich, South Nassau’s vice president of administration. “We make the investment and then we get refunded.”
Many residents, however, demanded that the entire FEMA reimbursement be used to open a “full service” hospital.
“This barrier island must have a hospital,” said Phyllis Libutti, a co-founder of the Beach to Bay Central Council of Civic Associations. “That money must be used in Long Beach. We must not only contact Murphy, we must contact FEMA. If some of you have another home somewhere else, in Florida for example, and you receive NY Rising money or FEMA money, it wouldn’t be right to fix your condo in Florida, the money must come to Long Beach.”
Beach to Bay called on the council to pass a resolution stating that the city would support the organization’s goal of reopening a “full service” hospital.
Murphy responded to the council in a letter on Tuesday, saying that “although the bankruptcy court approved the sale of LBMC to South Nassau, closing on the sale and transfer of Long Beach Medical Center’s assets will take several weeks or months as the transaction requires review from state agencies.”
The approval of an asset purchase agreement opened the door for South Nassau to receive the FEMA funds, pending the agency’s approval of an “alternative use plan” for the facility.
Last week, Murphy said that it could take about six months to develop an alternative use plan — and a year to conduct an assessment of the hospital building. Though $26 million was spent on repairs at the facility, Murphy said that it would take millions more to overhaul or repurpose the hospital.
It is too early to say how much of the FEMA funding will be reimbursed for work in Long Beach and at the SNCH campus, Murphy said, adding that a spending plan would be subject to a federal audit.
“We have to spend the money before we get the money,” said Bill Ulrich, South Nassau’s vice president of administration. “We make the investment and then we get refunded.”
Many residents, however, demanded that the entire FEMA reimbursement be used to open a “full service” hospital.
“This barrier island must have a hospital,” said Phyllis Libutti, a co-founder of the Beach to Bay Central Council of Civic Associations. “That money must be used in Long Beach. We must not only contact Murphy, we must contact FEMA. If some of you have another home somewhere else, in Florida for example, and you receive NY Rising money or FEMA money, it wouldn’t be right to fix your condo in Florida, the money must come to Long Beach.”
Beach to Bay called on the council to pass a resolution stating that the city would support the organization’s goal of reopening a “full service” hospital.
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