Jamaica Hospital To Run Leben Home

The BOE has consistently touted that there is a need to alleviate overcrowding in Queens schools. So far, three schools have been given community clearance at a site near Creedmore, and class schedules have been altered to lessen the number of students on school grounds at one time.
But Butler says with alternative sites providing a safer atmosphere for students to learn, it seems ludicrous the Stevens Appliance site should house the school.
"There used to be a chemical laboratory behind the Stevens site which left traces of a cancerous substance called benzine," said Butler. "That stuff was used to make napalm. We cant believe they would ignore such environmental hazards."
The DOH stepped into the Leben Home situation after two Parkway Hospital surgeons were accused of performing unnecessary prostate surgeries on 21 residents in 1998.
One of the physicians was the former chief of urology at Parkway. His license was suspended, and the second was barred from performing surgery.
As far as MediSys involvement is concerned, a DOH spokesperson said it would run Leben Home for 60 days. He was unsure whether the Jamaica Hospital-based facility was in line to operate the Elmhurst Home permanently.
MediSys currently operates the 293-bed Flushing Hospital, Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn with 525 beds, and the Advanced Center for Psychotherapy, reportedly the largest private mental health practice in Queens.