By Joe Anuta
The state Department of Health ordered Peninsula Hospital to stop admitting patients and cancel all upcoming surgeries after inspectors found problems with a crucial laboratory in the facility, a hospital spokeswoman said Friday.
The department’s inspection found that the Far Rockaway hospital’s clinical lab, which is where blood tests and cultures are done, was not up to acceptable standards and ordered the facility to both transfer all patients and cancel any procedures that relied on the lab, according to Liz Sulik, a spokeswoman for Peninsula.
The order was issued Thursday afternoon and by Friday morning the hospital had transferred a majority of patients to nearby medical facilities, Sulik said. Family members of patients have been notified, she said.
Other portions of the 173-bed hospital that do not rely on the clinical lab, including the radiology unit and family health center, continued to operate, she said.
Once the hospital brings the lab up to snuff, Sulik said patients can return.
“As the hospital complies with the DOH’s directive, it is expeditiously developing a plan to remedy the laboratory deficiencies and hopes to restore full services as soon as possible,” she said.
Sulik could not comment on what the department found at the lab.
Peninsula Hospital, which was operated by the MediSys Health Network until last summer, was rumored to be closing last year after it racked up $13 million in debt, according to elected officials in the area.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
