South Nassau’s E.D. gets the OK

911-emergency department could open by Monday

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A month after it was initially slated to open, South Nassau Communities Hospital’s free-standing emergency department on the former Long Beach Medical Center campus has finally received state and federal approval to begin operations, according to U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice and State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky.

Officials said that the facility could open by Monday, if not sooner. Rice and Kaminsky said on Tuesday that for the first time since Hurricane Sandy — which extensively damaged LBMC — the barrier island would finally have a functioning emergency room.

“The City Council has been aggressively advocating since the storm to restore a 24-hour, 911-receiving emergency department in Long Beach,” City Council President Len Torres said in a statement. “We are thrilled that, thanks to the hard work of Assemblyman Kaminsky and Congresswoman Rice, the red tape at the state and federal levels has cleared.”

The facility will be staffed by certified emergency physicians and nurses. Though it will not function as the full-service hospital that many residents have been calling for, it will treat patients until they are stabilized and can be transferred to South Nassau or another hospital of their choice.

SNCH took over health care services in Long Beach last year, after the medical center was shuttered — and later declared bankruptcy — in the aftermath of Sandy. For months, SNCH officials said they were hopeful that they could convert the urgent-care center that opened on the campus last year into an emergency department in time for the summer.

Since Sandy, patients have been taken to other area hospitals, including South Nassau and Nassau University Medical Center, which many say has led to longer turnaround times for ambulances. Additionally, SNCH officials have said that the hospital has seen a substantial increase in patient volume since LBMC’s closure, which has created significant operational challenges at its Oceanside facility.

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