By Hector Flores
Daniel Kane, president and CEO of the Nassau Health Care Corporation, which runs the East Meadow facility, said that the hospital shelved its plans after they were made public two weeks ago. ³Since our proposed changes were made public, we received calls from the EMS community who share our goal, but didn¹t share our timetable,² Kane said. ³I made the decision to put our [proposed] changes on an indefinite hold.²
Kane said that he had proposed the change in an effort to enhance the medical care in the hospital¹s emergency room. The new standards would have required all E.R. doctors to be residency-trained and certified in emergency room medicine, a requirement that only two of its 20 E.R. doctors currently meet. The new standards were scheduled to be enacted within the next six to nine months, and only doctors meeting the new requirements would have been allowed to work in the hospital.
Nassau County Legislator Norma Gonsalves, a Republican of East Meadow, said the proposed policy change sent a negative message that the hospital¹s E.R. doctors were not up to par, and she considered it an insult to the staff that has helped make the hospital a leader in trauma care.
³I can understand that sometimes gems need polishing, but this change would have been a disservice to the medical doctors who have dedicated themselves and are well qualified,² Gonsalves said. ³These doctors are the gem of the hospital, and any changes should be phased in. There should have also been more communication with the parties that would have been impacted by these changes, and that was not the case.²
Gonsalves added that the plan was proposed without any dialogue with the legislative district (which allocates operating funds to the hospital), the hospital union or emergency responders. ³It was only after the proposal was disclosed and feedback received by Mr. Kane that the proposal was not favored,² Gonsalves said. ³The human element was missing, and there was no alternative for the doctors that would¹ve been displaced by the new standards.²
Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg, a Democrat of Merrick, added that the administration¹s decision put many at the hospital on edge. ³The hospital¹s emergency room is top quality,² Denenberg said. ³But the administration put a lot of these employees in a feeling of insecurity. Why do that to a top E.R. department?²
Kane explained that his plan was not meant to insult doctors, but only to enhance care. ³In my position, you must make difficult decisions, and some individuals will be hurt by them,² Kane said.
Scott Farber, a paramedic and EMS coordinator for the East Meadow Fire Department, was one of the many emergency responders upset with Kane¹s plan. ³The idea of replacing the doctors who have dedicated their careers to this hospital and who have practically written the book on emergency medicine, simply because they lack what amounts to a piece of paper, is ludicrous,² Farber said. ³Don¹t their years of extensive experience of actually performing the job count for anything? The doctors in the emergency department can out-diagnose, out-treat and out-perform anyone they wish to hire to replace them. How is that raising the standard of care?²
Farber added that he is cautiously optimistic about Kane¹s change of plan, and would like to see ³strong wording with respect to the permanency of this decision."
Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the Civil Service Employee Association Nassau County Local 830, the union that represents hospital staff, agreed with Farber, and asked that the decision be put in writing. ³I would want them to agree to leave the emergency staff as is,² Laricchiuta said. ³I think that it¹s a good decision not to lay off the most qualified doctors in the emergency room, and is a step in the right direction.²
Laricchiuta added that many of the E.R. doctors threatened by the hospital¹s proposed revamping expressed gratitude to the people who have shown them support. ³This is the best gift in lieu of the holiday season,² Laricchiuta said. ³Keeping one¹s financial future and stability intact is important during the holiday.²
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