LICH settlement: Electeds' Statements today, CHA statement tomorrow

Big updates on the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) settlement have been floating around news desks today. Below are statement excerpts from elected officials. The official Cobble Hill Association will come tomorrow, Friday, February 21st.

Our most steadfast supporters, local electeds Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and City Councilmembers Brad Lander, Steve Levin, and Carlos Menchaca jointly released the following statement:

We've long urged SUNY and the State to agree to a new, more open RFP process for LICH, to make sure our community and all of Brooklyn have the best possible healthcare outcome.  And, finally, SUNY has come to agreement with the community and healthcare providers on a process that achieves this basic goal, while offering added transparency and community input. Now, it's critical that the process moves forward in good faith and in a timely way, with meaningful community participation from the many neighborhoods that LICH serves. We will continue to work with SUNY, the community, and our colleagues to ensure that LICH continues to provide care, and play the role that Brooklyn needs.

An excerpt of Mayor Bill DeBlasio's statement is as follows. 

For months, we were told the free-fall closure of Long Island College Hospital was inevitable. We fought back. We went to court to keep the padlocks off the doors. We fought shoulder to shoulder with this community and used all the tools of city government to press for a better outcome. And now, we have a resolution that finally puts people's health first.

His full statement is available here. 

An excerpt of Governor Cuomo's follows below.

Today’s agreement is a victory for all parties involved and paves the way for putting a long-term, sustainable health care facility in place for the residents of Brooklyn,” Governor Cuomo said. “We are in the midst of a health care transformation here in New York State, and the reality is that yesterday’s costly, inefficient models of delivering service are no longer viable options for tomorrow. Under the terms of today’s agreement, SUNY is reopening the solicitation process to find a new operator for LICH that will guide the facility as it modernizes and continues its important mission of serving New Yorkers.

His full statement is available here. 

Tomorrow, we will post the official Cobble Hill Association response to the close of litigation and the start of improved health care for our community.

Where will the ambulance take you?

Important message to area residents:

In it's continuing effort to close Long Island College Hospital, SUNY Downstate has now diverted all ambulances from LICH-- even though it is fully staffed and open. Even if you live immediately adjacent to the hospital you will NOT be taken to LICH if you call 911 for emergency service. All ambulances will be sent to Methodist, Brooklyn Hospital or any other hospital that has available beds. Only walk-in patients will be admitted to the LICH emergency room. Emergency patients requiring critical or acute care will be stabilized and then sent at other hospitals.

The Cobble Hill Association made a TV commercial highlighting this issue:
LICH Two Minutes to Live commercial - YouTube

What can you do:

Let Governor Cuomo know that he needs to take charge. So far, he has refused to meet with our local elected officials. Tell Governor Cuomo that we expect him, as our elected representative, to act in the best interests of the western Brooklyn residential and business community.

Write to: The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224 

Call: (518) 474-8390
Email: Greg.Smiley@exec.ny.gov

For your convenience, simply sign and send the following message:

Governor Cuomo,
As a constituent, I urge you to develop a plan to save Long Island College Hospital so that it can provide needed health care for the fast-growing residential and business communities of western Brooklyn. As Governor, you must act to insure (i) that the process is transparent, (ii) that Downstate makes current audited LICH financial records available to all interested parties, and (iii) that a 150-year-old teaching hospital is not summarily closed without a full assessment of the community's needs by the NYS Department of Health.

LICH patients REFUSE to be transferred

A concerned staffer at LICH shared with us this story from the past few days, giving a sense of both how urgently we need to keep the hospital alive as well as the power we as the community has in assuring a positive outcome. 

The other day, a LICH neighbor came in to the ER & was deemed to require hospital admission. Of course he was told he would be transferred someplace else. This guy was smart.  He refused transfer, saying that his doctor & records are here & LICH is his hospital, it's open, staffed, and theres no "closed" sign on the door.  He insisted on being admitted to LICH or he would take legal action.  Guess what? He was the first patient to be admitted to LICH since June 19th.

Many of our dialysis patients are refusing to go elswhere for their treatments...and they aren't.  Maternity patients are calling to say they are coming & will refuse to be transferred.  Yesterday, one of them was admitted to LICH and had her baby safely delivered. 

Moral of the story, the community has the power.

New Save LICH poster in the area

Our  community has been crystal clear that it wants to keep emergency services open at LICH and so many windows of homes and business have been seen sporting this #SaveLICH poster. Now it seems there is another poster popping up around the neighborhood, put out by Parents for LICH and the Working Families Party - South Brooklyn Club, suggesting the best approach to keep the fight alive - Call Governor Cuomo. 
(518) 474-8390

Concerned patients ask legitimate question: "Who do I sue?"

Many thanks to all the Save LICH supporters who have helped keep up the pressure on our elected officials as well as Governor Cuomo, who unfortunately still remains completely silent on the health care crisis in our neighborhood. 

A registered nurse at LICH offered us this update below.  We urge everyone to read it in full, and call Governor Cuomo directly to voice your concern. 

(518) 474-8390

LICH EMT reports that yesterday, a Cobble Hill resident was suffering a heart attack just a block or so from LICH but ambulance was forced to take him to Methodist due to continued LICH patient diversions. According to the EMT, it took a full 9 minutes to get to that hospital and then more time to assess the patient and begin treatment. Heart muscles die with each delayed moment. In the first 9 minutes that it took just to travel to another hospital, the Cobble Hill resident could have already been in the LICH cardiac catheterization lab restoring his heart's blood flow, reducing the injury and increasing the chances for survival.

Also, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports on a woman who was choking in Carroll Gardens. According to that patient, because of LICH's diversion, the ambulance had to take her to Methodist & travel time was 20 minutes on a Sunday. Thank G-D for the paramedics who were able to treat her on the way. She asks the reporter "who do I sue" over this. Others report on the impact of long delays for care at Brooklyn Hospital as well. (see:http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/residents-fear-worst-brooklyn-er-crisis-drags-2013-07-04-160300)

This is no joke now. People's lives absolutely are in danger as SUNY Downstate continues to thumb its nose at everyone - elected officials, supreme court judges, community residents, etc.

Does there need to actually be a death in the ambulance before the city and state put a stop to this insanity and full services at LICH are resumed?

FYI: In LICH ICU today, there are 2 attending physicians present, plus one attending physician on call, 6 ICU Registered Nurses, 2 physician assistants, 1 nurses aide, a nurse manager and a case manager - all for just 2 patients - both of them being transferred out of ICU today. There's even more staff than that in ER. There's just 28 patients in the entire hospital, with a full staff of nurses, doctors, and other caregivers on those floors too.

So what is the reason again that our ambulances are being diverted, our admitting office cannot admit anyone, and patients cannot come to LICH?

Lives here are being put at risk because Downstate has big plans to build new care centers around Brooklyn but has no way to pay for it. Are people going to die in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens and Redhook just so LICH can be sold to fund SUNY's grand ideas? (see:
http://mcbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-can-suny-downstate-design-brooklyn.html)

The Department of Health's representative was just at LICH again, counting all the staff on each unit, saying nothing, but looking astounded at the incredulous situation here.

So where is the NYC public advocate and the NYC mayor for these NYC residents in Brooklyn? Where is the Governor? Do they all need to be sued by the family of a patient that SUNY causes to be harmed by continuing this debacle before they start to seriously advocate for this public and not just come out for a photo op? How is this all still being allowed to continue?

This is a tragedy with a mega-lawsuit waiting to happen and the city, state, SUNY and Downstate officials and Governor Cuomo will find themselves being held responsible. LICH's full hospital services need to be resumed now.

Contact Governor Cuomo - DEMAND LICH BE SAVED

The Cobble Hill Association continues its fight to save our local institution, Long Island College Hospital, and now sends the below note to all concerned about the fate of our community's health.

Dear Neighbors,

We are at a critical time in the life of Long Island College Hospital. Last week, SUNY Downstate announced its Sustainability Plan. Under the plan, Downstate will either close or sell LICH.

SUNY Downstate claims that seven suitors are interested in LICH, the result of an RFI (Request for Information) that SUNY issued last month. Sale of LICH to a professionally managed hospital organization would be a cause for celebration. After years of indifferent management, at best, documented in the NYS Controller's 2013 report, professional hospital management offers the best opportunity to operate a full-service hospital to serve residents from the Red Hook Houses to Dumbo as well as the area's thriving business and student population.

However, SUNY Downstate has failed to turn over the LICH financial records parties have requested. Moreover, SUNY Downstate has made representations about LICH finances that are simply not true. Without open books, potential suitors cannot evaluate LICH's economic viability -- and there is no assurance that the disposition of LICH will be a fair one. SUNY Downstate's actions have revived fears that its real goal is to sell the land to a real estate developer.

The Governor needs to take charge. So far, he has refused to meet with our local elected officials. We need to show Governor Cuomo that we expect him, as our elected representative, to act in the best interests of the western Brooklyn residential and business community.

Write to: The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224 
Call: (518) 474-8390

Email:  Use the link below today and next week and every week until this matter is resolved in the best interests of our community. 

For your convenience, the following message has been inserted in this email link to send to the Governor's office now. Just open, sign, and send:

Governor Cuomo, 
As a constituent, I urge you to develop a plan to save Long Island College Hospital so that it can provide needed health care for the fast-growing residential and business communities of western Brooklyn.

As Governor, you must act to insure (i) that the process is transparent, (ii) that Downstate makes current audited LICH financial records available to all interested parties, and (iii) that a 150-year-old teaching hospital is not summarily closed without a full assessment of the community's needs by the NYS Department of Health.