State to hold public forum on LBMC closure

The state Department of Health announced recently that it would hold a public forum regarding the closure of the Long Beach Medical Center, a meeting that was demanded by the Beach to Bay Central Council of Civic Associations at a rally in April.

In a letter to Francis McQuade, an attorney for the civic association, Robert Welch, deputy director for the division of hospitals and diagnostic & treatment centers, said that the Health Department would hold a public forum after the sale of the hospital to South Nassau Communities Hospital was finalized, which would mark the official closing of LBMC, pursuant to state health law.

“We are pleased with the response,” McQuade said. “This is the most clear and direct communication we have had.”


The 162-bed LBMC ceased operations after 10 feet of water flooded its basement during Hurricane Sandy, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage. All of the major work to allow two of five wings at the hospital to reopen, including the emergency department, was completed a year ago. But former state Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah blocked the cash-strapped facility from reopening, saying that it had lost more than $2 million per year since 2008.

In April, McQuade wrote a letter to Shah on behalf of the civic association, urging him to hold a public forum in order to give residents the answers they have been looking for regarding why the hospital was not allowed to reopen after repairs were made.

McQuade cited a section of the New York State Public Health Law that requires the Health Department to convene a community forum within 30 days of the department’s closing of a hospital. He said that no forum was convened when LBMC was not permitted to reopen in July 2013, and warned that the civic association would file suit in State Supreme Court to compel action if its request was not granted within 30 days.