With the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) facing a $1 billion budget gap over the next two years, the Springfield Gardens Medical Center had been slated to close at the end of the last fiscal year, on June 30.
“[The HHC] had to reduce spending by $316 million,” said Philip Cooke, Director of External Affairs for Queens Hospital Center (QHC), which runs the center, located at 134-64 Springfield Boulevard.
But thanks to a commitment from legislators to “seek funds,” the center was saved and will remain open.
Cooke explained that the Springfield Gardens Medical Center provides services such as adult medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology and HIV treatment. The staff last year saw 3,800 patients who made more than 9,400 visits, he said.
Elected officials, including Councilmembers Leroy Comrie and James Sanders, Assemblymembers Rory Lancman, William Scarborough and Barbara Clark, as well as State Senators Malcolm Smith and Shirley Huntley, weighed in with the State Department of Health, the HHC and others to urge that the center stay open.
They cited the recent closures of St. John’s Queens and Mary Immaculate Hospitals inn “placing a greater burden on both of Queens’ HHC hospitals.”
“I am grateful to the elected representatives for agreeing to secure funding to ensure that this center remains open,” said QHC Executive Director George M. Proctor.
Calls to HHC were not returned as of press time.
The Springfield Gardens Medical Center can be reached by calling 718-334-6800.
