By Jeremy Walsh
Mt. Sinai Hospital is not taking the current shortage of hospital beds in Queens lying down. The Astoria facility is searching for funds to build a $200 million, nine-story addition to vastly expand its capacity.
Caryn Schwartz, the hospital’s executive director, told Community Board 2 last week that emergency room visits have been up 15 percent since St. John’s Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate in Jamaica closed their doors last February.
In addition, she said, the hospital anticipates a steady increase in patient volume as the population of Astoria and Long Island City swell with recent residential development.
The building they hope to erect on the lot next to their current facility would bring the total number of beds to 265 from 192 and add 10,000 square feet of emergency room space, tripling its volume. Hospital officials are looking for funding sources to close a $75 million gap that would enable them to issue bonds to finance the rest of the building.
They hope to have the new building open in three years, although they noted the plan being forwarded is a smaller, expandable design that could eventually allow for up to 400 beds total.
“Any kind of expansion is being actively discouraged in terms of adding new beds,” Schwartz said of the state government in the wake of the budget crisis and the Berger Commission report recommending numerous hospital closures. “We think it’s a reasonable first step.”
CB 2 members were supportive of the plan, but also questioned why the hospital had not tried to acquire the St. John’s Hospital property in Elmhurst. Schwartz said the St. John’s facility would have required extensive interior renovations, which would have added to the price of acquiring the property at auction.
“At the end of the day, money spent to renovate St. John’s Hospital would be wasted funds,” CB 2 Chairman Joseph Conley said. “The facility’s not large enough.”
As the community board started a letter-writing campaign to elected officials asking for funding help, state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the proposal.
“I’m a huge supporter of what they’re trying to do and have already been in communication with DOH to make that happen,” he said, indicating state Health Department officials seemed initially favorable to the idea. “The need for additional beds, in western Queens especially, is growing. So their plan is the best hope we have to accommodate that need.”
Along with St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals, Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills closed in late 2008. The state allocated $30 million to several Queens hospitals and community clinics in September as part of a grant program, including $4 million to Mt. Sinai for a new, one-story building that would include 18 new patient beds.
“This area lost three hospitals and we’ve seen overused and overcrowded emergency rooms,” Elizabeth Swain, CEO of the Community Health Care Association of New York State, said at a news conference with the governor announcing the grants. “Unfortunately, in Albany we’re going to have to really prioritize.”
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
