Shuttered St. John’s would threaten 5 Towns

Faced with rising operating costs, hospital units that lose money and a need for space, St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, the only remaining hospital in Far Rockaway since last year’s closing of the Peninsula Hospital Center, is taking measures that administrators hope will keep it a viable facility.

The 257-bed hospital shut down its chemical dependency unit, which was losing $1.4 million per year, according to St. John’s officials. The space will be converted into a medical and surgical unit with an additional 15 beds.

Family practice, internal medicine and pediatrics clinics previously located in St. John’s were moved to the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Centers, at 1288 Central Ave. in Far Rockaway, and at 6200 Beach Channel Drive, in the Arverne section of Queens, as of Aug. 1.

“EHS is considering all necessary action, including possible layoffs, to adjust expenses with income in order to preserve the viability of health care operations,” said interim Chief Executive Officer Richard Brown, referring to Episcopal Health Services, which owns the hospital and its two nursing homes. Louisiana-based Pitts Management runs the hospital’s daily operations, and employs its CEO, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

The changes will give the hospital the room officials say they need for a planned $15 million expansion of the emergency department. When the project is completed in 2015, St. John’s will be able to accommodate 50,000 patients annually. It currently treats 30,000 emergency patients per year in a space built for 15,000.

The initial phase of the renovations is being funded with $4.3 million in state grant money and is expected to begin this fall, according to Brown, who succeeded Nelson Toebbe in July. Toebbe stepped down due to health reasons, hospital officials said. The remainder of the money is expected to be raised by the hospital’s fundraising Development Board and secured through further grants.

In addition, the hospital is in the process of selling its nursing homes, Bishop Charles Waldo McLean, in Far Rockaway, and Bishop Henry B. Hucles, in Brooklyn, to Michael Melnicke, who owns six such facilities. The sale is awaiting approval from the State Department of Health.

State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah said that the community has severe health care needs and the state is working to preserve St. John’s. “We have to figure how best to meet these needs short-term and long-term,” Shah said.

With the fate of Peninsula Hospital fresh in the minds of Local 1199 union members, and the possibility of layoffs looming at St. John’s, Steve Kramer, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, said that an Aug. 14 rally, held near St. John’s, accomplished three things. “We have united the political leadership, united the clergy in the area and sent a very, very strong message that the workers disagree with what management is doing,” Kramer, whose union has approximately 1,000 members working at St. John’s, said of the shutdowns and shifts in services.

The union is calling for St. John’s to merge with the North Shore LIJ System. St. John’s currently has a working agreement with North Shore regarding its lab work.

“The board is exploring opportunities for mergers with other health systems,” Brown said. “To date, no overtures to EHS have been made by North Shore LIJ. At this point, all talks are exploratory.”

Kramer said that the hospital’s dialysis unit could also be closed. “Everybody knows when you lose dialysis, you lose a large amount of your cardiopulmonary patients,” he said. The unit recently underwent a $1.5 million renovation, and has 15 state-of-the art stations and individual flat-screen TVs with cable service.

Hospital officials have not commented on the dialysis unit, but Brown reiterated that adjustments need to be made. “St. John’s is under financial and regulatory pressures, but EHS is also committed to making necessary changes to keep St. John’s Episcopal Hospital the principal provider of quality health care and education in the Rockaways and surrounding communities,” Brown said, adding that the hospital is seeking reimbursement from the federal and state government for the $3 million cost of serving as a storm center after Hurricane Sandy.

This article first appeared in this week’s Nassau Herald.