The Long Beach City Council recently called on South Nassau Communities Hospital to hold additional public meetings “sooner rather than later” to update residents about its revised plans for the former Long Beach Medical Center property.
On Dec. 12, South Nassau held a public information session at the Long Beach Public Library, from 2 to 4 p.m., after it announced that plans to construct a medical pavilion with a new emergency room on the East Bay Drive site had changed.
In a Jan. 3 letter to South Nassau, the council called on SNCH to schedule more meetings in the evening hours, “in order to provide the same opportunity for those who cannot make a daytime meeting.”
And though it would no longer house an emergency department, hospital officials said that the pavilion would still provide the services proposed in the original plan, including OB/GYN, medical oncology and other specialties.
A number of residents criticized the change of plans in December, with some saying that South Nassau officials reneged on a promise to build a “robust” structure that would house a state-of-the-art emergency department that could accept ambulances, claims that South Nassau officials disputed. Hospital officials said that the emergency department has been a success, and that South Nassau remains committed to moving forward with the construction of a 15,000-square-foot, elevated one-story pavilion.
Joe Calderone, South Nassau’s senior vice president of corporate communications and development, told the Herald on Friday that SNCH had intended to hold additional public meetings after last month’s session, which he said would be scheduled after SNCH files formal plans for the project with the city possibly this month.
“We’re continuing to meet with civic leaders and community groups, and once we file the plans we will have additional meetings and briefings,” Calderone said, adding that hospital officials met with local PTA leaders on Friday to discuss the project and planned services. “We’re going to keep the community informed.”