New York City is about to lose another financially troubled hospital. Sources say Peninsula Hospital Center, one of two hospitals serving Far Rockaway, Queens, is set to close 90 days after state officials confirm a closure plan for the 200-bed hospital. Some 1,000 workers would lose their jobs if the plan goes forward.
Spokesmen from the state Department of Health and MediSys were not immediately available for comment.
Hospitals in Brooklyn and Queens are among the most financially strained in the city, largely because they serve poorer communities and rely heavily on Medicaid for revenue. Peninsula's pending closure comes at a time when state health officials have created a task force to deal with the ailing health of hospitals in Brooklyn. The state is holding a public hearing on July 28 to solicit public comment on restructuring health care in the borough.
Queens hospitals are also struggling. Peninsula, once an independent hospital, joined the MediSys Health Network several years ago so that it could reap financial benefits from being part of a system.
But now MediSys can no longer afford to carry the hospital. Another MediSys member, Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, is also struggling. It owes millions of dollars to the benefits funds of its main union, 1199 SEIU, and has clashed with local politicians over the disruption of union members' health benefits. An unconfirmed report puts Peninsula in a similar position, owing tens of millions of dollars to both the benefit funds and vendors.
Peninsula's closure would leave only one hospital, St. Johns Episcopal Hospital, serving the geographically isolated community of Far Rockaway. The state's former health care restructuring panel--the Berger commission--had recommended that Peninsula and St. Johns merge into a single entity, and that a new hospital be built with an inpatient capacity of between 350 and 400 beds. The commission said in its report that “two separate, inefficient and outmoded facilities” should not serve an area of Queens “which is experiencing major development and population growth.” The recommendations were never implemented.
the hospital and nursing home are in a mess
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