In the News

A month after it was slated to open before it was tied up by bureaucratic red tape, South Nassau Communities Hospital’s free-standing emergency department at the former Long Beach Medical Center campus has finally received state and federal approval to operate, 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 significantly damaged LBMC — the barrier island would finally see the return of an 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 medical facility will be staffed by certified emergency nurses and physicians board-certified in emergency medicine. Though it would not function as a full-service hospital that many residents have been calling for, it would treat patients until they are stabilized, before being transferred to South Nassau or a hospital of their choice.

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

Since Sandy, patients have been transported to other area hospitals, such as South Nassau or Nassau University Medical Center, which many say has led to greater turnaround times for ambulances. Additionally, SNCH officials have said that South Nassau has experienced a substantial increase in patient volume since LBMC’s closure that has created significant operating pressures on its Oceanside facility.

SNCH had originally planned to open the emergency department by July 1, after an $8 million upgrade to its Urgent-Care Center, but did not receive approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. A federal waiver of the facility’s newly installed emergency backup power system was required before SNCH could operate it as a free-standing emergency department, officials said.

On July 23, CMS granted South Nassau a one-year waiver, hospital officials said, after Kaminsky, Rice, County Legislator Denise Ford and City Manager Jack Schnirman called on the agency at a press conference last month to grant South Nassau’s request for approval, saying that residents could no longer afford to go another summer without an emergency department.

Without the approval, the facility could have operated only as an urgent-care center, not as the 911- and ambulance-receiving center that residents and local officials have been calling for.

“This was truly a collaborative effort, and I’m proud to have helped cut through the red tape and get this facility up and running during Long Beach’s busy summer season,” Rice said in a statement. “When the emergency department’s doors open on Monday, Long Beach residents will be safer and this community will be one step closer to fully recovering from Superstorm Sandy. I’ll keep working with federal regulators to make sure this facility stays open and residents can continue to count on access to critical 24-hour emergency care.”

In addition to the federal approval, the facility also required state proficiency testing to certify its on-site lab before it could open, which the state approved on Tuesday, Kaminsky said. Upgrades to the urgent-care center include a three-bed observation unit and special treatment areas for infectious diseases and behavioral health. The facility also contains an advanced medical imaging department with an X-ray machine and a 64-slice CT scanner — the only operational CT scanner on the barrier island.

“This will be a state-of-the-art emergency room that we can be proud of,” Kaminsky said in a statement. “I want to thank the Department of Health and South Nassau Communities Hospital for being supportive partners throughout this process. The Department of Health acted quickly and responsibly in approving the laboratory, displaying kindness and concern for barrier island residents and respect for the work South Nassau and I have undertaken thus far."

However, Joe Calderone, South Nassau’s senior vice president of corporate communications and development, said that the hospital is still awaiting confirmation on all regulatory approvals needed to open the facility and begin receiving ambulances via the 911-system. Once SNCH receives written notification, Calderone said, it could take approximately 48 hours for South Nassau to activate its staffing plan for 24-hour “coverage of physicians and nurses who are trained in emergency medicine.”

“We have been working closely with the New York State Department of Health on all open issues and are optimistic that we have met all requirements,” Calderone said in a statement. “The new emergency department will offer residents and visitors to the barrier island convenient and high-quality emergency medical care. We appreciate the support from the Long Beach community and from our elected officials …”

The free-standing emergency department is expected to operate as a temporary facility. Earlier this year, South Nassau said that it intends to establish a $30 million to $40 million Medical Arts Pavilion at the former LBCM property with an off-campus emergency department. Though it would not be a full-service hospital, the proposed 30,000-square-foot facility would operate 24 hours a day, receive 911 calls, and might also provide services such as family medicine, dialysis, pediatrics, behavioral health, physical therapy and ambulatory surgery. If approved, construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months.