Wyckoff wants to join North Shore-LIJ system

From the Queens Courier:

America’s health care industry is changing, and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border is looking to partner with a regional health care giant to expand and enhance its services.

According to Wyckoff Heights CEO Ramon Rodriguez, the hospital is in discussions with the North Shore/LIJ Health System regarding an affiliation agreement designed to retain Wyckoff’s independence while also providing additional health care options and “support for quality of care and clinical decisions.”


Serving tens of thousands of patients annually from both sides of the Brooklyn/Queens border, Rodriguez said, the hospital needs to transform its services to keep up with the national health care trend that has seen the rise of urgent care centers and outpatient/ambulatory services along with a reduction in extended hospital stays.

To that end, the board recently authorized Rodriguez to seek out affiliations with larger medical organizations in the New York City area. In responding to a request for proposals, he noted, North Shore/LIJ offered what the board considered to be the best options for Wyckoff Heights.

LIJ to build Ebola unit

From Crains:

The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System is planning to build at least one containment unit for patients with Ebola and other infectious diseases, the system announced Thursday. The unit is estimated to cost $15 million, will accommodate eight patients and will take 18 months or more to build. An exact location has not yet been determined.

"In light of the public's anxiety about Ebola, it's clear that we need to develop a more permanent solution to meeting public health needs in the event of a major infectious disease outbreak in the future," said Michael Dowling, the health system's president and chief executive, in a press release announcing the project.

The new unit will be modeled after the Nebraska Medicine Biocontainment Patient Care Unit and the Serious Communicable Disease Unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, both of which have been involved in treating Ebola patients.

The new containment unit will be able to handle other infectious diseases, a spokesman for North Shore-LIJ said. "We deal with all kinds of dangerous infectious diseases," including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the H1N1 virus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), he said. "They are very contagious, potentially fatal diseases, where if there was a widespread outbreak we should be better prepared to meet public health needs."

ER reopening at St. Vincent's site

From the NY Times:

A 200-foot-long shiplike structure floated into its berth on Seventh Avenue half a century ago. Unable to ignore it, Greenwich Villagers have loved or hated it ever since.

Their descendants will have the same privilege. The structure — originally the Joseph Curran Building of the National Maritime Union, then the Edward and Theresa O’Toole Medical Services Building of St. Vincent’s Hospital — is emerging in its third form, as a stand-alone emergency room and medical care center.

The O’Toole Building’s newly restored concrete facade, glowing white even on an overcast day, is a surprise. With the removal of the one-inch-square tiles that had been applied in 1966, the building has gained freshness and power. Its porthole-shaped cusps have never looked more shipshape. The prows at the West 12th Street and West 13th Street corners seem as if they could cleave a sea lane.

More surprising yet is that the building survived to see this day. In October 2008, the Landmarks Preservation Commission granted St. Vincent’s hardship application, asserting that it could not perform and sustain its charitable mission unless it were permitted to raze the O’Toole Building and replace it with a hospital tower.

St. Vincent’s closed in April 2010, before it could put its plans into effect. The hardship application was shelved. Now, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System is developing the new emergency room and medical care center by reusing the O’Toole Building and rehabilitating many of its architectural features.

Manhattan gets some health care back. Queens gets 2 stalled sites at Mary Immaculate and St. John's.

Hiram's gal suing Queens DA

From the Daily News:

QUEENS PROSECUTORS are trying to separate themselves from a federal lawsuit that claims they forced ex-state Sen. Hiram Monserrate’s girlfriend to accuse him of domestic violence.

The $35 million lawsuit filed by Karla Giraldo also names NYPD officers and staffers at Long Island Jewish Hospital Center. The suit was the subject of a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on Tuesday.

During the arguments, a city lawyer urged the court to dismiss the lawsuit against the prosecutors on grounds of “absolute immunity.”

But Giraldo’s attorney, Christopher Bellistri, countered that a Brooklyn Federal Court judge got it right last year when he ruled that the prosecutors could be sued.

Rest in peace, Councilman White

City Councilman Thomas White Jr. of Queens died this morning at North Shore LIJ after a long illness, a well-informed source tells the Daily News.

Help Chester get back to Creedmoor

From the Queens Chronicle:

A 35-year-old man who suffers from schizophrenia and diabetes went missing from North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Center on the afternoon of Jan. 9. Police are asking for the public’s help in finding him.

Chester Scales was last seen at 5:45 p.m. in the hospital’s emergency room, where he was being treated for an unspecified pre-existing condition, according to the NYPD.

A resident of Creedmore Psychiatric Hospital, Scales is a black man 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 185 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black and brown jacket, blue jeans and white sneakers.

Anyone with information about Scales’ whereabouts is asked to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1 (800) 577-TIPS (8477) or text information to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577.

D'OH!!!!

From the NY Post:

Monserrate's lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, had said during opening arguments in Queens Supreme Court that Giraldo spoke "Spanglish" -- a mix of English and Spanish -- and that she had been misunderstood by the hospital staff.

But [Dr.] Korte said her father was from Panama and mother hailed from Puerto Rico, and as a result grew up speaking Spanish at home with her grandparents. She also said she studied in Spain.

Korte said she understood Giraldo, who is originally from Ecuador, and that the conversation was in both Spanish and English.

Korte said Giraldo reenacted the fight, saying Monserrate was "thrusting the glass forward -- angrily" when he attacked her.

"She was upset ... She was sobbing," said Korte of Giraldo.

Korte said Giraldo told her, "No! No! You can't call the police."

Crap spreading east

Not Forest hills but Manhasset (#2 Combes drive) this was a 2 story Cape ---just slapped with a stop work order.

They couldn’t build a new house so they simply installed a spiral staircase on the outside, killed the lawn and started bricking over the existing house.

From outside, it sounded like everything inside the house was being smashed ---- imported by N Shore LIJ Hospital.

Numbers #1 and #4 could await the same fate.

- Joe

PS: I think N Shore LIJ Hospital may have gotten into the mortgage business.

Caritas deals nixed; hospitals to file for bankruptcy

There will be a rally outside Mary Immaculate Hospital tomorrow morning at 11am.

From the Daily News:

In the midst of the frantic negotiations, the Daily News learned that Queens-based Capitol Health Management Inc. had offered $80 million last year to buy the two ailing hospitals. A company spokesman revealed the offer had recently been upped to as much as $150 million.

Capitol, which runs an outpatient facility at the old Parkway Hospital, offered to keep all three facilities open.

"We have private equity dollars to save all three hospitals," said Capitol spokesman Fred Stewart.

But Stewart said after the Borough Hall powwow, that the deal was now "off the table."

Caritas previously considered selling the two hospitals to North Shore-LIJ Health System, which hoped to build a 400-bed hospital near St. John's Queens - a proposal that relied heavily on public financing.

That plan appears to have been torpedoed by the recession, which has made public funding scarce, said North Shore spokesman Terry Lynam.

LIJ may buy St. John's Queens Hospital

From the Queens Tribune:

According to North Shore-LIJ spokesman Terry Lynam, two months ago Caritas and North Shore-LIJ signed an agreement that said North Shore is allowed to negotiate exclusively with Caritas.

Though staff and patients at St. John’s have been concerned that bankruptcy might spell the closure of the hospital, Lynam said that is not in North Shore’s preferred plan.

“Our preference would be to build a new facility,” Lynam said. “The exact location is somewhat in question. The bottom line for us is we want to provide a premium facility for the residents of Central Queens who, in our opinion, deserve a new hospital.”

Between the two hospitals, there are 400 patient beds. At St. John’s alone, in 2008 there were 48,000 Emergency Department visits, 7,000 surgeries, 1,227 deliveries, 14,000 discharges and 50,245 clinic visits, according to staff at the hospital.

A decision is expected Wednesday as to whether the hospitals will remain open until an agreement is reached.

LIJ gives gifts to vets on their payroll

The North Shore−Long Island Jewish Health System surprised six of its employees who had served in the military since 2003 during an intimate luncheon Tuesday by giving each of them a check that made up the difference between their military pay and the salary they would have earned with the hospital had they been home.

“The purpose of this is to basically say ‘Thank you,’ ” said Michael Dowling, chief executive officer of North Shore−LIJ. “We do know that this is an extraordinary commitment that you make. This is just a brief recognition to say, ‘Thanks.’ ”

The health system handed out more than $182,000 combined to the employees.

North Shore−LIJ is the largest employer on Long Island and among the largest in the city. It has 25 employees who have served in the military within the last five years, including 10 who are still in service.

LIJ employees who served in military get holiday surprise

Hiram tried to destroy evidence

'EX' FACTOR ENRAGED HIRAM: COPS
By MURRAY WEISS, NY Post

State Sen.-elect Hiram Monserrate flew into a rage and slashed his girlfriend in the face with a piece of broken glass because he believed the business card he spotted in her bag belonged to an ex-boyfriend, sources said.

Investigators found the card at the bottom of the garbage chute in Monserrate's Jackson Heights apartment building after he was caught on surveillance video trying to toss her bag in the trash, the sources said.

The video also captured Monserrate's girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, 30, running screaming down the hallway holding a towel to her bleeding face and pounding on neighbors' doors for help.

Monserrate, 41, a Democratic city councilman and ex-cop, is then seen pulling her back to his apartment, sources said.

He then drove her to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, nearly 15 miles from his home, where she received 20 stitches. He was arrested and charged with assaulting Giraldo, who has stopped cooperating with investigators.

And let's recall this statement: “I would like to reiterate to my constituents and community that I have absolutely nothing to hide and all facts will become known at the appropriate time.” - Hiram Monserrate

Sure sounds like you were trying to hide a few things...

Monserrate assaulted girlfriend on video

Authorities have obtained video surveillance that allegedly shows embattled City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-East Elmhurst) pulling his girlfriend’s hair outside his apartment early Friday morning just hours before he was charged with assaulting her, sources told the TimesLedger.

BREAKING — Tape shows Monserrate pulling girlfriend’s hair: Sources

...sources, who declined to be identified, said surveillance footage taken from Monserrate’s apartment building allegedly shows the senator-elect pulling his girlfriend’s hair outside the door of his apartment shortly before he took her to North Shore Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Authorities said Monserrate drove Giraldo, an entertainment writer for a Queens Spanish-language newspaper, to North Shore LIJ — located on the Nassau County border — shortly before 4 a.m. where she received treatment for two lacerations in the vicinity of her left eye.

Hiram arrested for beating up girlfriend

Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate was arrested early this morning after he brought a woman believed to be his girlfriend to Long Island Jewish Hospital with severe lacerations on her face that will require multiple stitches to close, sources confirmed.

Monserrate and his girlfriend arrived at the hospital at approximately 4:30 a.m. where he was detained for questioning and subsequently arrested, according to an NYPD source. The incident occurred at an apartment at 37-20 83rd St. in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Monserrate was charged with assault one.

Monserrate Arrested

City Councilman and State State-senator-elect Hiram Monserrate, who touted himself as a staunch advocate of victims of domestic violence, was arrested early this morning for allegedly attacking and cutting his girlfriend with a broken bottle, police sources told the Post.

In 2006, Monserrate secured $100,000 to fund a program to to give women the resources they need to protect themselves from domestic violence.

COPS EYE QUEENS REP FOR GAL BEATING

****Here's an update from Liz Benjamin:****

More details on the incident: It involved a beer bottle, which Monserrate allegedly used to cut his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, 30, in or around her left eye so badly that she required 20 to 40 stitches.

And this is not the first time Hiram's gone to the clink.