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NewsNews

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 2013 

Coney Island Hospital Opens Inpatient Psychiatric Beds; Moves Outpatient Clinic Services Back into Main Building

HHC Estimates Costs of Sandy Storm Damage and Loss Will Exceed $800 Million

US Senator Schumer Tours Storm Damaged Coney Island Hospital; Will Advocate for FEMA Aid

Brooklyn, NY ― HHC President Alan D. Aviles today announced that the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the New York City public hospital system will exceed $800 million to cover response, repairs, revenue loss and the permanent reconstruction work needed to prevent flood damage in the future. The majority of the costs will involve repair and restoration to electrical, water, heating, communications systems and patient care areas at Bellevue Hospital, Coney Island Hospital and HHC’s Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility on Roosevelt Island. Aviles made the announcement following a site visit to Coney Island Hospital by Senator Charles Schumer who toured parts of the storm-damaged first floor Emergency Room and basement and is asking FEMA to quickly deliver all possible aid to HHC.

Coney Island Hospital officials also announced that the hospital will resume inpatient behavioral health services with the opening of all of its 64 inpatient psychiatric beds by Monday, January 14 and today will begin to move its outpatient primary and specialty clinic services back to its main building on Ocean Parkway, which was shut down due to water and systems damage that forced the evacuation of 200 patients. Four days after the storm, the hospital opened a 24/7 urgent care center and has been steadily opening outpatient primary care and specialty services. The hospital’s community based health clinic, the Ida G. Israel Health Center, which served more than 50,000 outpatient visits annually, was completely flooded and is irrecoverable. The emergency room and other inpatient services remain closed and are expected to open later this month. Aviles and Schumer were joined by Coney Island Hospital Executive Director Arthur Wagner, Medical Director Dr. John Maese and HHC Board Member Dr. Vincent Calamia.

“We estimate that the costs of the immediate response and restoration work required to get the hospitals back up, and the long-term protections we need to put in place to prevent future evacuations due to storm damage, including the loss in revenues, will easily exceed $800 million,” Aviles said. “We are grateful to Senator Schumer for his advocacy and support and look forward to securing the funds we need to cover the many millions we have already invested and the millions more we will need to fully protect the city’s public healthcare system from future storms.”

“Opening the Main Building again is very significant to the hospital and community,” said Executive Director Arthur Wagner. “It will again provide our patients with a full array of health care services in a more efficient and adequate setting and will allow us to move progressively towards restoring ancillary services needed to support our Emergency Department.”

“We serve one of the hardest hit communities and it has been our mission to continue offering health services throughout the recovery, whether it is at the hospital or from our mobile units situated within the neighborhoods with the most need,” said Chief Medical Officer, Dr. John Maese, “We are one step closer to our goal of restoring full services to the community.”

Cost of Storm Impact for HHC

The impact of Hurricane Sandy on HHC has been categorized into four major areas of loss and includes a range of repairs at other HHC facilities including Harlem Hospital, Metropolitan Hospital, Queens Hospital Center, Jacobi Hospital, Kings County Hospital and Gouverneur Health.

Estimated Storm preparation and response - covers costs of hardening vulnerable facilities by sandbagging, assessing integrity of buildings, supplemental staffing, procuring and positioning supplemental emergency generators and boilers

$20 million

Emergency protective measures – system-wide effort to remove debris, pump water out of basements and mechanical areas, remediate asbestos, remove mold, secure temporary ambulances

$137.5 million

Estimated Revenue losses – Two hospitals had to evacuate 900 patients; inpatient units remain closed; EDs are not fully operational.

$180 million

Estimated permanent reconstruction/hazard mitigation costs – replace damaged electrical switch gears, mechanical medical gas systems and relocate them from basement to 1st floors; upgrading pumps and motors; retrofitting elevators; reconstruction of flood walls; building of one entirely new health center (Ida Israel); rebuilding and repositioning the entire Coney Island ED and critical support services from the 1st floor

$472.5 million

Estimated Total

$810 million

Restoration of Services at Coney Island Hospital

Coney Island Hospital has the following services in full operation effective today:

Inpatient Behavioral Health – 34 adult psychiatric beds now open (another 30 will open Jan. 14)

Outpatient Specialty Clinics:

Allergy Geriatrics Plastic Surgery
Arthritis Hand Surgery Podiatry
Breast Head & Neck Rectal
Cardiac Hepatology Renal
Coumadin Neurology Spec. Immunology
Dermatology Neurosurgery Surgery
Ear, Nose, Throat Oncology Thoracic
Endocrine Hematology Vascular
Eye Orthopedics Urology
Gastro Intestinal Pain Management Vein & Ulcer

 


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