Peninsula Hospital facing closure

Hospital staffer Marcus Jackson believes health care in Queens “is at critical mode.”
With news that Peninsula Hospital in Rockaway is facing imminent closure, the 35-year-old orderly is not only worried about himself and his future, but about his parents as well.
“They are in their 60s, and if they get sick time is of the essence,” said Jackson.
On Friday, July 22, it was announced that the foundering 200-bed facility – $60 million in debt – was working on a closure plan, and that it could shut its doors 90 days after the plan receives approval from the State Department of Health (DOH).
“The management of Peninsula Hospital Center and the MediSys Health Network Inc. [under which Peninsula operates] have been working with the New York State Department of Health and other parties to try and find a workable solution to the deep financial crisis facing Peninsula Hospital Center,” reads a statement from MediSys.
It continues, “Peninsula has been struggling financially for several years prior to its sponsorship by MediSys, the Queens and Brooklyn based network that has attempted to make Peninsula financially viable in the current difficult economic market. A series of meetings have been held recently that included discussions with St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, Local 1199 and state officials, among others, to develop approaches to meet the health care needs of the Rockaway communities. Without a long-term solution that puts Peninsula Hospital Center on the path to fiscal recovery, an organized closure may be the only option.”
Reports claim the DOH has not yet received the notice of closure, though repeated calls were not answered as of press time.
Jackson, an 1199 SEIU delegate who launched the Facebook page “Peninsula Hospital & Our 1199 Coverage: Be Fair to Those Who Care,” told The Courier that the saga began three or four months ago, when the approximately 1,000 staffers “knew the hospital was cash strapped.”
“They [officials] were trying to come up with ideas to pay vendors and the union,” he said. “Supplies were at an all-time low. We had to scrounge and scrape for the minimum to treat people.”
According to a posting on the Facebook page, “Peninsula General currently owes . . . $20 million to the 1199 Benefit Fund and is generating a deficit of approximately $10 million this year, as it did last year.”
“1199 SEIU is actively involved in ongoing discussions with all parties about the future of Peninsula Hospital. Given the hospital’s severe fiscal crisis, our top priority is to preserve vital services including emergency room and ambulatory care services, and as many jobs as possible. This is essential for the 100,000 residents of Far Rockaway who deserve access to quality, affordable health care,” said a statement from 1199.
“People thought that in three months we’d be back on our feet,” said Jackson, who noted that there were talks that Peninsula might merge with St. John’s Episcopal Hospital. “We heard rumors, but nothing was ever said.”
Borough President Helen Marshall confirmed this, saying, “A series of meetings took place at Borough Hall with Peninsula and St. John’s Episcopal Hospital even before the Berger Commission’s hospital restructuring recommendation that the two hospitals merge. And, meetings continued to take place even as late as last week in Albany to address the hospital’s growing debt problem. Last year, an agreement was negotiated that allowed hundreds of hospital workers to keep their health benefits – thanks to a last minute reprieve.”
Marshall noted that, were Peninsula to close, it would be the fifth to shutter its doors in Queens in less than a decade, following St. Joseph’s, Parkway, St. John’s Queens and Mary Immaculate.
“I cannot imagine how St. John’s Episcopal Hospital – the only other hospital on the peninsula – will be able to handle the overcrowding in the emergency room that will take place as a result of this closing,” said the Beep. “We have already seen the effect on surrounding hospitals when St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals closed.”
“The possible loss or downscale of another acute care hospital would only worsen the existing health care crisis in Queens,” agreed 1199 reps. “This situation is further proof that safety net hospitals are struggling for survival as they continue to provide essential services to the community and save lives.”
Marshall has pledged her support for the staff and the community as a whole.
“I will call on state health officials to convene an emergency meeting to explain the future of health care for more than 100,000 residents of the Rockaway peninsula,” said Marshall. “The future of the site will also be a major issue in days to come. A medical facility must be a component of any plan for future use of the area.”
But Jackson, for his part, is worried.
“These suits don’t understand how it’s going to affect the community at large,” he said. “[The employees] are going to be jobless soon, though 1199 claims they will help in finding jobs. We have bills to pay, mortgages.”