Hurricane-Battered Hospital Reopens As New
The South Nassau Urgent Care Center at Long Beach opened only months after South Nassau Communities Hospital of Oceanside purchased the Hurricane-Sandy battered and bankrupt Long Beach Medical Center.
“This is just the first step in building a patient-centered, high-quality healthcare delivery system that restores vital healthcare services to the residents of Long Beach and surrounding communities,” said Richard J. Murphy, president and CEO at South Nassau Communities Hospital.
Urgent Care for Local Residents
The new South Nassau Urgent Care facility has 10 private examination rooms, two procedure rooms, and radiology imaging and laboratory suites. Hospital officials said that patients who require more extensive care will be transferred to either South Nassau’s Oceanside hospital or a hospital of their choice.
“Having an urgent care facility in Long Beach is definitely a positive step forward by South Nassau, and we are still advocating to have a 911-receiving emergency room as soon as possible,” said Long Beach City Council Vice President Fran Adelson.
During the several months in between the time that Long Beach Medical Center closed and the new South Nassau Urgent Care opening, Long Beach residents were forced to travel to Oceanside or hospitals that were much further away.
Long Beach Medical Center filed bankruptcy after it was flooded during the October 2012 storm and could not reopen. During the bankruptcy hearing, it was announced that the hospital was nearly bankrupt before Hurricane Sandy hit.
Newsday reported that the new Urgent Care Center is housed in a $3.9 million 4,700-square-foot modular unit shipped from Raleigh, North Carolina. Although the center won’t be an emergency department, it will be staffed with board-certified emergency doctors and nurses, said Dr. Joshua Kugler, chairman of South Nassau’s department of emergency medicine.
Flood Damage May Prevent Opening of Old Building
Although $20 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has already been spent on repairs to the hospital, it is unclear whether the original hospital building will house any medical departments. South Nassau officials said they worry mold or structural damage which they can’t inspect until they legally take ownership of the building.
Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach) said that although he would prefer a full-service hospital, he was “grateful to have a resource of excellent health care coming to Long Beach.”