Friday, February 6, 2009

Caritas filing for bankruptcy, closing hospitals

Caritas is claiming Chapter 11 bankruptcy today and submitting a closure plan for St. John's, Mary Immaculate, satellite clinics and a 115-bed nursing home named Monsignor Fitzpatrick. Workers have already left in significant numbers so they may all close by default earlier than expected.

Can you think of any elected official that did a damn thing during this crisis besides use cute slogans in order to get their mug on TV or in the paper? How about the ones that have shown no concern at all? What do you think about the union leaders who take way too much money out of each employee's paycheck and offered nothing in return?

Where was Mayor Bloomberg petitioning for funds from Albany to keep them open? Which elected officials will bring up this massive loss of hospital beds when Bloomberg and Burden's next plan to upzone Queens is put in front of them? (Don't hold your breath.)

Can't wait for the next Queens employment report.

VOTE THEM ALL OUT.

Photo from the Queens Chronicle

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

Compared to where most immigrants come from, hospital care is excellent in Queens.

Remember what the pols always tell you.

Queens today is America tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Be interesting how the papers handle it Crappy.

Gingerly or ignoring the pols.

(Hey, did Schumer not hustle up millions for a cupcake store and Maloney Baloney millions for a few out of scale senior barracks in Astoria?)

Anonymous said...

Sorry, um.. folks that I wasn't able to save.. uh... Catiras as I promised at the rally.

But we'll restore the fountain of the something-or-other instead, so people can swim there vibrantly here in the boro of.. uh.. what is this place called again?

Anonymous said...

You blame everyone but the people who were running the facilities. Both hospitals are dumps.

Anonymous said...

Now NORTH SHORE WILL BUY THEM IN A FIRE SALE! It was CARITAS PLAN ALL ALONG. MAJOR CORUPTION IS INVOLVED WITH CARITAS!!

Anonymous said...

Oh please.....why would North Shore buy these 2 hospitals that would require unlimited financial resources to transform them into quality institutions. They would be crazy.....and of course where would North Shore get the money to fund such a large commitment?

Anonymous said...

where would North Shore get the money to fund such a large commitment?


they are on the Madoff list as having lost 5.7mil, which is less than 1% of their portfolio and a donor has already agreed to re-imburse them. They have the resources and the know how, there is a void that needs filling that's what smart business poeple do and NS-LIJ management is smart

Anonymous said...

I agree that North Shore is smart.....and that's why they will not be buying these hospitals very soon. In fact, they were looking for state funding to finance some of the Caritas deal....and we know that the State is broke. It would probably be more cost-effective to infuse some money into their Forest Hill facility. I believe that they were recently approved by the State for a 5 million dollar grant to construct an Urgent Care facility in Central Queens.

Anonymous said...

So what happens to these facility now?

Anonymous said...

MIH will sit empty and St. John's will be demolished and rebuilt as an ambulatory facility. Those of you who think LIJ wants to rebuild and run an actual hospital in western Queens better think again. We ain't their kind of people.

Anonymous said...

You can bet your house that:

Burden and her Commissar Master will continue to ram overdevelopment, illegal aliens, and permit illegal rentals throughout Queens (except where the precious people live).

These community stuffers will require addition police, fire, sanitation, parking, schools, and --- hospitals. But, there will be none.

Dump the Commissar.

Anonymous said...

Great News just cames overs thes wires Prez Obombas gots the stimules packegs signed!! We be saveds!!!

Anonymous said...

Makes more sense to replace MIH with a new facility further south,on the old Naval Hospital grounds perhaps; the current location, close to QHC, bunches scarce resources too tightly; the physical plant is beyond hope.

If we could keep the GD tweeders out i'm sure the community could utilize this parcel of land, expand Rufus King park, maybe. (Stop laughing)

St. John's is trickier. Same issues as MIH, but limited relocation possibilities. ( How about Grand ave to 57 ave 74 st to 80 st, including the park, though Atlas Terminals seems more appropriate.)

Both of the named facilities (and CMC Bklyn./Queens as a whole) had/have been moribund entities since the mid-1980's. Makes no sense to fund the past.

The City/HHC must be the the leading entity, as the private sector and mega health care systems are running the whole thing into the ground Penn Central style.

I swear, I just saw 50 billion laying right over there a minute ago.....

Anonymous said...

Just shows you what phony fake useless politicians we have representing queens.I feel sorry for all the hard working people that will be out of work. I own a small business close to st johns and i know for sure that i am doomed now. God bless you all.

Anonymous said...

St. John's is in the perfect location where it is. Besides, LIJ is looking at the Sears tire center and the gas station on the other side of the hospital as part of its new ambulatory care center.

Anonymous said...

It is now in the Lords hands my children

Anonymous said...

Our local politicians are worthless. They're all corrupt. Not only are they not doing anything about this, but they are letting Con Ed and the PAID OFF PSC charge anything they want for gas & electric while utility companies are shutting off people who cannot pay these over-inflated bills all over the country while they freeze to death in their homes.

MUDERERS!

Anonymous said...

But we have plenty of money for new stadiums--smaller than what went before--better to shelter the tushes of the rich.
America is not a "Christian" nation, it has become a nation of barbarians.
When we feed our hungry, house our homeless, clothe our naked, care for our sick, visit the elderly and those in prison, then we can call ourselves a "Christian" nation (With apologies to Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and other decent people of other beliefs.)

Anonymous said...

Where is big shot Congressman Rep Crowley - still seeking autographs from former President Bush? Yea he made big efforts to leap over aisles and folks to get his - although he is from the other side of the aisle. What effort did he make - Where is the bacon Joe Crowley? Where are you for this - can't you help your little cousin Elizabeth on this one - do you not remember where you came from - St John's Hospital is 7 blocks from your former home - if you or a loved one was injured or sick where did you think they would be taken to - Elmhust Hospital - the worst hospital in the US?

Anonymous said...

Ill Miss St Johns when i eat to much chinese food and need to get my stomach pumped that's the place i go.

Anonymous said...

Yes, yes, yes... it's all the mayor's fault and it's all the city's fault and it's all the illegal aliens' fault... if all else fails, it's Gallagher's fault or Marge Markey's fault. We get it already. You guys hit the same drumbeat over and over and over again. You offer no original thought. You offer no ideas other than "throw 'em out," as if the ballot and changing immigration laws alone will change things in New York City.

The entire health care industry is dying in this country for a variety of reasons: mismanagement, lack of compensation and reimbursement, millions of uninsured people (even more than all those illegal aliens you claim brought down both hospitals). Simply changing who sits at City Hall solves absolutely nothing. Even if he wanted to, the mayor could do nothing. Even if they wanted to, the state could do nothing. This is a federal problem, whether you want to admit it or not; and it requires a federal solution, whether you want to admit it or not.

All we get is negativity here; give us some ideas and something constructive other than veiled nationalism and blind criticism of everyone who dares to disagree with you.

Queens Crapper said...

And in the meantime, is it not the mayor's job to petition the feds for money to keep these hospitals open? Is that not what we choose leadership for? The problem is not going to fix itself and that is why we put people in power to fix them. Therefore the blame lands directly on them. If they or their lackeys don't like it, then they are in the wrong business.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, the days of pols actually giving a shit are over in NYC. Now its all pretend rage, aimed at getting themselves re-elected.

Anonymous said...

It's all Gallagher's fault - If he were still in office - this woudn't go down without a fight !!

Anonymous said...

You guys hit the same drumbeat over and over and over again. You offer no original thought. You offer no ideas other than "throw 'em out," as if the ballot and changing immigration laws alone will change things in New York City.
----------

The clubhouse hits the same drumbeat over and over and over again.

You offer no original thought for the past 30 years.

You offer no ideas other than "sanctuary city," as if the tweeding and abolishing immigration laws alone will change things in New York City.

Anonymous said...

.....and maybe 1199 instead of spending their members' money on making ineffective commercials should have used that money to charter buses to the nations' capital to bring the plight of these hospitals to a national platform. We rely too much on politicians who grandstand and get their photos taken for local press....but generally don't give a damn about us....

Anonymous said...

Actually no it's not the mayor's job to petition the federal government for money to bailout a private institution. i swear this blog is written by idiots for idiots.

Queens Crapper said...

If we can bailout banks, we can bailout hospitals. The Mayor just announced a charter school proposal with the Catholic schools that are closing, where the City would take them over. He will need state approval for this and will use stimulus package money for this. He should be taking a similar stance on the City taking over these fully functioning hospitals so his constituents will continue to receive life-saving care. And he should be petitioning the feds for the money to do so.

Anonymous said...

Fiorello LaGuardia went to FDR during the depression and demanded money for NYC infrastructure. Hospitals are infrastructure and these have been not-for-profit since their inception more than 100 years ago. Bloomberg, as NYC's advocate, should be petitioning Obama for money to take over and run these hospitals, preserving jobs in the process. He certainly has no qualms about taking stimulus money and using it to further his overdevelopment agenda.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said:
"The entire health care industry is dying in this country for a variety of reasons: mismanagement, lack of compensation and reimbursement, millions of uninsured people (even more than all those illegal aliens you claim brought down both hospitals). Simply changing who sits at City Hall solves absolutely nothing."

Horseshit.

Every hospital in the nation is required to treat anyone who comes in. The hospital will be reimbursed.

Here's the real problem: Nobody, insured or uninsured, EVER asks a doctor or a hospital "How much will this [treatment, prescription, hospital stay, nurse, eyeglasses, yada, yada, yada] cost?"

When the recipient of a service that has a cost, NEVER has to be interested in that cost, (because the OTHER taxpayers, ratepayers) will pick up the tab, then the price charged be always be exorbitant. But, with the years of socialist, entitlement beliefs pushed by the politicians and medical industry (how about $20 for one aspirin tablet?), we all have utopian dreams that we are all entitled to have a hospital at our disposal to care for our splinters, our sniffles, our tummy aches and even hangovers.

Not even doctors or hospitals or the politicians who couldn't care less can produce a free lunch.

Anyway, the federal pols have Bethesda Naval Hospital or Walter Reed to take care of them and their families at our expense. And, that care is NEVER substandard.

When we face up to the simple economic fact that we all must pay the piper upon delivery, we will see the end of the "health care crisis".

Anonymous said...

I think that everyone is forgetting the fact that both Mary Immaculate and St John's Hospitals and horrible places. The hospital's higher-ups have mismanaged all the incoming money into their pockets, left skeleton funding for the hospital itself. Why should we as tax-payers be responsible for a bail out so they can continue more of the same stupidity. There are other hospitals in Queens which are running just fine, why is it these two that are always in dire trouble, even after a 60 million bailout over 2 years?

Anonymous said...

Why can't we bail them out AND change the leadership? Hello?

Anonymous said...

"Why can't we bail them out AND change the leadership? Hello?"

This isn't communist China, those who work endure, those who won't need to change their ways. This hospital is just a money pit. They need to start all over again with new people

Anonymous said...

To all the FOOLS who stayed working at St. John's thinking that 1199 was going to protect you
HAHAHAHHA

Have fun looking for a new job. Wait!!!! The union will get us new jobs

HAHAHAHAHA

Anonymous said...

Listen it may be a done deal,but we still have one more fight? We need everyone in both communities to come with us to Albany on Wednesday Feb.11. Please we need everyone to help us.

Anonymous said...

Even if Albany did have any money (which they do not), why should it be given to such a corrupt incapable institution with a horrible track record? WAKE UP PEOPLE, THINGS NEED TO CHANGE DRASTICALLY, that's the root of the money problem.

Anonymous said...

I really need my job.

Anonymous said...

St. Johns is not that bad.Just like any hospital.For those who thinks it soooo bad,try wycoff or elmhurst. Or when the hospital closes where will you go.

Anonymous said...

How can you expect a hospital to take care of patients when it can't even take care of itself?

Anonymous said...

The facts on the closings are that the Department of Health is pushing for it. For some reason, they are hellbent on closing the facilities. whether its due to North shore pressure or not, it is done. Alot of people are going to die enroute to a hospital due to this decision. It will increase transport times and time is tissue. The New York State government should be ashamed and we as new yorkers need to get these morons out of office. While NYS says it doesnt have the money to bail out caritas, The Department of Health is calling area facilities offering them money to expand to ease the closure. I smell swine!!!!!
While it is true that management have made some stupid decisions like the one when they were broke but still promoted Kate Fucigna as the administrative director of the ambulance departments. She and Chris recieved raises while everyone else couldn't get paid and the union pension funds were not being funded. Chris should be ashamed of this decision. Fucigna is incompitent and the only secret to her success is that she rules by fear. She did not have the qualifications to have that position in the first place as her education is suspect and she lacks the masters degree that the position requires. She is a sneaky, useless, rediculous person who brings nothing to the table except Chris' favor. The truth will come out about this bimbo and with her reputation in the field, she shouldnt try to do anything in EMS again. She and Chris have made many enemies. If she does have any friends out there, she will eventually stab them in the back. I wonder how she will do with out chris' support? Well, she will probably do the same thing she did with chris. Its about time she got out from under his desk. Or, will they continue their romance? Kate, you really need alot of work before you can call yourself a leader. May eveything that you have done come back to you.

Anonymous said...

Okay, now that everyone has blamed everyone, it still comes down to the fact that an investigation needs to be started to find out exactly where all the money did go. Yes, there are some terrible choices for administration, people placed in high positions without having the educational or professional background required for those positions. Yes, there are quite a few staff members who should have been fired but the union managed to help them keep their jobs. Yes, the hospitals were dirty on occasions but the same can be said for other hospitals including Jamaica. One of my children was hospitalized in Jamaica for meningitis and I remember seeing roaches crawling all over the room walls...that's what happens when family members bring in tons of food and no one throws the garbage out. But the big question is, when you get sick where are you to go now? Elmhurst was just on diversion, so when St. John's ER closes and Elmhurst and Jamaica ERs are on diversion, where will you or your family member be taken? Will you reach a hospital facility in time to save your life?
I have enjoyed working at St. John's and have been lucky enough to find another job before everyone hits the job market. Am I jumping ship? Yes, you could say so but until I can be guaranteed a position, I have to protect my finances.

The government needs to look into the finances of both hospitals. Yes, a number of indigent patients are seen at both facilities, but also the insured are seen. Why wasn't the billing mismanagement ever corrected? Why weren't the medical doctors forced to get the patients out before they contracted additional illnesses from being hospitalized for too long a period of time? Why were patients admitted for conditions that could and were treated with oral antibiotics...these situations could and should have been handled on an out-patient basis. Even a moron knows that insurance companies won't pay for situations like that. A UTI...come on...oral antibiotics and fluids...isn't that what your private physician would do? Why did the physicians connected with the neighboring nursing homes constantly admit for things that could have been handled in the nursing homes? They do staff nurses don't they?

Anonymous said...

Who authorized the removal of bankruptcy materials?

I thought that Caritas is in bankruptcy. Why are we selling off office furniture to another healthcare corporation? Why was furniture taken out of St. John’s and delivered to Jamaica Hospital this week? Is Annette Hastings looking to secure her future employment? Did money change hands? Is the bankruptcy court aware of this? Is there a secrete warehouse (like during the St. Vincent’s bankruptcy and Joe’s closing) where valuable equipment is being hidden and stored? These questions need to be answered!

Anonymous said...

As a former memeber of the st johns ambulance department I have to say Im deeply sadened by what has taken place. The boro of queens is in a much more dangerous place.

This incidents speaks to the volumes to our need for true policy reform and more specifically the need for health care paid by a single payer system.
This is possible to accomplish with out turning the united states in to a nother cuba or china.

Anonymous said...

Why is Administration still employed? They are the ones who led us into the ground and are still employed collecting their hundreds of thousands of dollars. Disgusting!

Eddy must be the highest paid snow Shoveled in town! What a disgrace!

When is the madness going to end?

Anonymous said...

Why is Annette still employed? This is outrageous! I am out on unemployment with no health insurance and she is sitting back on her chair at St. John’s collecting 250k. Someone needs to look into this. Where are the authorities?