Too bad HHC didn't backstop LICH's restructuring plan

From the Demand a Hospital Listserv :

Begin forwarded message:

From: Demand A Hospital
Subject: Too bad HHC didn't backstop LICH's restructuring plan
Date: 7 mai 2014 11:42:47 UTC-04:00
To: Demand A Hospital
Bcc: lflores22@gmail.com
Reply-To: demandahospital@gmail.com

Dear All :

The latest in-depth news about the end of full-service hospital care at Long Island College Hospital comes from Capital New York :

Officials from the de Blasio administration, including Emma Wolfe, were concerned that the winning bid to buy LICH from SUNY was not commercially feasible. Brooklyn Health Partners was the sole bidder for LICH to submit a plan to continue full-service hospital care at LICH, said to be a major concern to the community and to Mayor Bill de Blasio, but Brooklyn Health Partners has lacked a state license to operate a hospital, an area where the city's network of hospitals, the Health and Hospitals Corporation, could have provided valuable, non-financial assistance by proposing an HHC affiliation with Brooklyn Health Partners. However, the city never proposed any such affiliation, in spite of it being in the best interest to public health. Meanwhile, time may have run out on Brooklyn Health Partners's bid for LICH, even as Brooklyn Health Partners continues its search for a partnering hospital system, which could, amongst other things, sponsor an operating license.

City and state officials expressed outrage after it was revealed that Brooklyn Health Partners had planned to use a secret plan for massive real estate development on LICH's footprint to subsidize full-service hospital care at LICH, somewhat reminiscent of Rudin Management Company's original plan for St. Vincent's Hospital. The community's painful experience with what Rudin's reckless plans did to St. Vincent's still weighs heavily on the minds of New Yorkers, and that experience may have influenced the city's sudden opposition to Brooklyn Health Partners' plans for LICH. But government officials never sought to provide a combination of restrictions and assistance to the winning bidder for LICH to prevent such drastic real estate speculation in the first place.

Recall how the city rejected the community's demand to "land-lock" the zoning on the property of St. Vincent's Hospital after its final bankruptcy filing. Community activists even organized a sit-in protest over this very issue.

Watch : 4 Community Activists arrested In HANDS OFF ST. VINCENT's protest (YouTube) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcToWCh5VhU

Read more : The end of the full-service hospital in Cobble Hill (Capital New York) : http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/05/8544898/end-full-service-hospital-cobble-hill

Adding hospital-only restrictions to the deed(s) of LICH's property, coupled with critical support, like extending HHC's operating license to Brooklyn Health Partners, would have been one way for the city to have responsibly supported its intention to continue full-service hospital care at LICH. Some hold out hope that SUNY will sell LICH to the second-place bidder, Peebles Corporation. But SUNY's governance board, which has been on a months-long scorched earth campaign to sabotage LICH, has no motivation to save the hospital it's been desperately trying to close in a move to appease hospital closing czar Stephen Berger and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

If by small chance Peebles Corporation is awarded its second-place bid for LICH, it may mark another instance when North Shore-LIJ stands to make financial gains from the closure of another full-service hospital in New York. North Shore-LIJ is a partner in Peebles Corporation' plan to build an urgent care center complex at LICH. As part of the Berger Commission's drive to close St. John's Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital, both in Queens, the state Department of Health made a $3.5 million grant to North Shore-LIJ to expand emergency room services at its Forest Hill and Franklin sites. A year later, North Shore-LIJ received another state grant of $5.3 million to open an urgent care center in Rego Park, Queens, following the closures of St. John's and Mary Immaculate. After the closing of St. Vincent's, North Shore-LIJ received yet another $9.4 million grant to open a failed urgent care center in Chelsea. North Shore-LIJ also received for free its use of the old O'Toole Building, which is being redeveloped into a glorified urgent care center in the West Village. Now, North Shore-LIJ may again stand to gain from its venture deal for LICH. The Peebles Corporation plan for LICH involves plans for the development of some luxury housing, providing a financial windfall to the next owners of LICH's valuable real estate. LICH's medical campus sits on land said to be worth as much as $500 million. North Shore-LIJ CEO Michael Dowling served on Gov. Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team, which has pushed for further hospital closings on top of the closures made under the previous Berger Commission. There is further appearance of cronyism in ties between Peebles and SUNY. Peebles Corporation is headed by Don Peebles, who has political ties to SUNY chairman H. Carl McCall, Crain's New York Business has reported.

SUNY's disposition of LICH is expected to be made final on May 22.

Read more : SUNY Nixes Deal With Winning Bidder to Run Long Island College Hospital (DNAinfo) : http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140505/cobble-hill/suny-ends-lich-talks-with-brooklyn-health-partners

Read more : Top LICH pitch implodes, leaving luxury developer up next (The Brooklyn Paper) : http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/37/19/dtg-lich-plan-implosion-2014-05-09-bk_37_19.html

Read more : LICH bidder Peebles has ties to SUNY board chair McCall (Crain's New York Business) : http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140402/REAL_ESTATE/140409967/lich-bidder-has-ties-to-suny-board-chair

Thank you for all that you do.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Demand A Hospital
Date: Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 8:42 PM
Subject: Can / Should HHC Save LICH and Interfaith ?
To: Demand A Hospital

Dear All :

Last week, SUNY Board of Trustees chairman Carl McCall offered to hand over Long Island College Hospital (LICH) to New York City once mayor-elect Bill de Blasio takes office, telling The New York Times that “I would love to meet with him and give him the keys to the hospital.” Mr. McCall said of his offer to transfer LICH to the next mayor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/nyregion/suny-withdraws-development-plan-for-troubled-brooklyn-hospital.html

In a separate report last week, another SUNY board member was quoted as saying that talks should be explored about possibly transferring LICH to the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC).

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303949504579264803802600962

Given recent reports that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leaving the city with a municipal budget surplus of approximately $2.4 billion, should consideration be given to transferring both LICH and Interfaith Medical Center, both located in Brooklyn, to HHC ?

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/de-blasio-inherits-2-4b-surplus-challenges-article-1.1553616

Just today, Interfaith won a reprieve of a few more months.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/12/23/state-steps-in-to-keep-brooklyns-interfaith-medical-center-open/

Perhaps now is the time for the city to consider this stop-gap measure in order to guarantee full-service hospital care for Brooklyn, an option that was never made available for St. Vincent's Hospital by the Bloomberg-Quinn administration ?

If Gov. Andrew Cuomo won't fully fund healthcare in New York State, should we look to municipal resources ? For now, the resources exist at the city level. Since Albany seems intent on abdicating leadership on healthcare, should City Hall take action to finally stabilize city hospitals, so that our hospitals can adequately meet the expanded needs anticipated by new waves of insured patients under Obamacare ? Share your opinions with the mayor-elect at : info@billdeblasio.com

Thank you for all that you do.

P.S. Update on mysterious medical facility. The Lenox Hill urgent care center, which took millions in state money and then closed, was not the medical facility implicated by the Moreland Commission. The questionable facility, which took millions in state funding but failed to provide healthcare, was reportedly revealed to be Relief Resources Inc., and this facility is said to be tied to powerful Albany lobbyists.

http://nypost.com/2013/12/08/brooklyn-agency-fits-description-of-mystery-nonprofit/

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