By Cynthia Koons
With signs bearing slogans such as “Patients First, Not $” and “Honk for St. Joseph's in Support,” about 200 employees gathered on the sidewalk behind the hospital, located at 158-40 79th Ave. in Flushing, for the third such rally in support of the continued operation of the facility.
“They say we don't make money, but we do,” said Debbie Dees, a hospital registrar.
“This is a sad time. I can't really say anything that will change the process,” said Deborah Sanders, of the Health and Human Services Union 1199. “If this institution is going to close, all 430 workers are placed in positions and retrained.”
Michael Fagan, a spokesman for St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers, said St. Joseph's parent company is committed to placing workers at one of the two remaining Queens hospitals in its system or other nearby facilities if possible. He said St. Vincent's plans to close St. Joseph's within a year's time.
St Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers is also the parent of St. John's Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica.
“It's a real letdown for how hard we work in earnest,” said Genevieve Molyneux, who has spent the last 40 years of her life as a porter for St. Joseph's.
“I am the messenger, so I go from top to bottom everywhere,” she said. “People come from eye care, when they have drops in their eyes and they can't see. I escort them.”
A native of Antigua who now lives in Queens, Molyneux came to the borough 40 years ago and began working at St. Joseph's when she was 30 years old. She said she has to stay employed in spite of her age, and she hopes she will not have to leave the halls she has traveled through for so many decades.
“I want to see this place kept open,” she said.
St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers announced the closing of the hospital that borders Flushing and Fresh Meadows last month. The umbrella organization cited the high price of renovations and the depleting finances of its entire network as reasons for selling St. Joseph's.
Initially, St. Vincent's attempted to find another operator for the 100-bed community hospital. But representatives for St. Vincent's said their efforts to attract a new owner for the hospital were futile, and they decided to close the facility for good.
Hospital workers also decried the closing in a letter to state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in April, saying St. Vincent's was not completely honest in its claims about St. Joseph's financial burden on the system. St. Vincent's has maintained that it would cost $40 million to upgrade the hospital to modern standards and reported $68 million in losses systemwide last year.
Standing with the protestors on Union Turnpike, Ken Cohen, president of the hospital's community advisory board, led a chant of “never give up” as passing cars honked in support.
Shirley Weinstein, another member of the hospital's community advisory board, said she was angry that the union and workers had been in negotiations without her knowledge and that St. Vincent's had been uncommunicative with the board.
“The union apparently has made a deal that we know nothing about,” she said. “Everything seems to be done behind our backs. I resent the loss of my time, my effort, and I insist that building be left a medical facility.”
Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
