Exclusive: Patients, Co-Workers Up In Arms Over Doc's Layoff

CONEY ISLAND, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- Over 300 doctors and nurses at Coney Island Hopsital have signed a petition to bring back a 68-year-old cancer surgeon who was laid off earlier this month due to budget cuts.

Dr. Quamar Amirudin had just completed performing surgery on Aug. 7 when he returned to find a note in his office, requesting his presence at an immediate meeting. That's when he was told he was being let go.

"Immediately the barcode on my ID card was taken away," Dr. Amirudin told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria. "I couldn't get on to computers."

He was one of 12 doctors laid off by the hospital, where he first began work as an intern in 1972. Perhaps that's why he calls Coney Island Hospital his "second home" and refuses to work elsewhere, despite receiving offers to do so.

His former co-workers and patients are up in arms.

"What a loss to this hospital and to this community," said one of his patients.

Dr. Amirudin still visits with his patients, though he can't perform surgery.

Earlier this year, the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation announced they were laying off thousands of employees.