Investigation, frustration surrounds Peninsula Hospital

The stormy skies above Peninsula Hospital during a recent protest rally were a well-fitting metaphor for the healthcare facility set to close on September 1. But a few last ditch efforts to save the hospital may delay the proceedings.
State Senator Malcolm Smith is asking the State Health Department, New York State Attorney General’s office and Comptroller John Liu’s office to suspend the closing in favor of a formal investigation surrounding the timing and circumstances surrounding the hospital’s closure and $60 million debt. Currently, Peninsula is slated to be the fifth closed hospital in the borough over the past decade.
“This closure can potentially cause irreparable harm to a community already facing many challenges,” said Smith. “In the past few years we have seen more than our fair- share of hospital closures throughout this city and state. It is imperative that we redesign and redefine the process required to keep hospitals thriving in our community. Peninsula Hospital Center is in the heart of a vibrant community. It is completely unacceptable to even consider terminating such vital services to our community and limiting access to care that is greatly needed.”
While the state senator’s investigation is laying in wait, Assemblymember Rory Lancman has appealed to the Hospital Closure Planning Act which was passed into law in 2010 after the closures of Mary Immaculate and St. John’s.
“If Peninsula actually closes, the Act requires the State Department of Health to hold a local public forum to determine the impact of Peninsula’s closing on affected communities and to report on specific measures the department and other parties have taken or will take to ameliorate such anticipated impact,” said Lancman. “Hopefully, this will go a long way toward forcing the Department of Health to ensure that the people affected by Peninsula’s closure will continue to have access to essential healthcare services.”
The rally held in the parking lot next to Peninsula brought a horde of elected officials and special election candidates to Rockaway to profess their support for the hundreds of healthcare workers and representatives of 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in attendance. Those that took the microphone – backed up by a funk band – offered words of encouragement and hope for the approximately 1,000 workers that could potentially lose their positions. Steve Kramer, executive vice president of healthcare systems in 1199 painted a much grim picture. According to Kramer, St. John’s Episcopal, the last remaining hospital in the Rockaways, has indicated that 375 will be saved for Peninsula workers.
“I’m giving you the reality of what’s going to happen. We need to deal with where we are,” said Kramer. “If there is a distant hope of keeping this hospital open, we will stand with you.”
Kramer’s comments were not well-received. Toward the end of the rally, the chanting protesters’s walked into the lobby of Peninsula Hospital but were escorted out after police arrived on the scene.
While local elected leaders begin working with state officials, hospital workers and community members remain frustrated at the potential for what they believe will be an overcrowded St. John’s Episcopal hospital.
“We had a gunshot wound in here [on August 3] for a man who needed four pints of blood,” said Evelyn Soto of Peninsula’s cardiac technician telemetry unit for the past 20 years. “If it weren’t for us, he would not be alive today. If he had to go to St. John’s Episcopal, he would be dead for sure.”