Peninsula undergoes restructuring

Though he says that the reorganization of Peninsula Hospital Center has just begun, Todd Miller, who is serving as the chief restructuring officer, has two main goals: improving the hospital’s technology, and providing programs that will motivate more area residents to turn to the 200-bed facility for hospital services.

Miller, 48, has worked in health care in the New York area for the past dozen years, the last four with Brooklyn-based Revival Home Health Care, which acquired Peninsula on Sept 2. He is Revival’s chief operating officer.

“We are an entrepreneurially run company, and the hospital should be able to survive with the services it is providing,” Miller said, adding that the hospital will be run as a not-for-profit facility. “We are very focused that the expenses don’t exceed revenues.”

Revival was in negotiations with Peninsula officials for nearly two weeks before an agreement became official. The 104-year-old Far Rockaway hospital was on the verge of closure due to its $60 million debt, a third of which is owed to Local 1199, the union that represents many of its 1,000 workers. Peninsula is expected to be financially restructured through bankruptcy proceedings, for which it planned to file this week, Miller said.

The acquisition includes Peninsula’s nursing home facility.

“The hospital needed an infusion of cash and someone with the wherewithal to make that kind of commitment to keep it a thriving community hospital,” said attorney Howard Fensterman, who helped structure the agreement.

Revival has already invested $1.5 million in the facility, and a larger investment is anticipated, as computerized medical and laboratory equipment will receive substantial upgrades, Miller said.

He said he expects to hire additional staff, bringing back former employees, and that Revival has a large network of doctors who want to work with the company and the hospital. The hospital’s board will also be reconstituted, with four new voting members and a community representative.

“We intend to accommodate all groups currently accessing the hospital, including the Orthodox,” said Miller, noting that Revival, though known for serving the Orthodox Jewish population throughout New York, also has 3,500 clients that “come from all walks of life.” The hospital serves an estimated 100,000 Far Rockaway and Five Towns residents.

“It is a great community hospital, and we look to provide quality care, improving the technology and increasing the community health-related programs to bring all of the residents to the hospital,” said Miller. Some 80 percent of Peninsula’s core coverage area doesn’t use the hospital, he added.

Despite being owed $20 million, Local 1199 strongly supports Revival’s acquisition and, according to union spokeswoman Leah Gonzalez, the union made every effort to save the hospital. “It has always been the union’s position that closure was an unacceptable outcome for the community and seriously diminishes access to vital health care services in a borough that has already endured multiple closures,” Gonzalez said.

“The union drew attention to the hospital’s dire fiscal situation back in May,” she added, “and worked aggressively with the state Department of Health, Peninsula and St. John’s [Episcopal Hospital] to explore viable solutions when a closure seemed inevitable.”

After Peninsula announced its possible closure and just before Revival’s acquisition, St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, also in Far Rockaway, presented a plan to expand its overall services, including the emergency department. The plan, approved by the state Department of Health, has not changed and is moving forward, according to Nelson Toebbe, chief executive officer of St. John’s. The plan consists of using underutilized space in the emergency department to add 17 bays. In addition, 51 medical/surgical beds, 10 critical-care beds and one pediatric bed will increase the facility’s total to 319 beds.

The expansion is expected to enable St. John’s to treat approximately 15,000 more emergency patients annually. The hospital currently treats 36,000 emergency patients per year.

“St. John’s has already begun treating increased patient volumes in its emergency room,” Toebbe said, “and operations have worked smoothly.”

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