Meeting held Thursday night in effort to keep Long Island College Hospital open. (credit: Eileen Lehpamer, 1010 WINS)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) –– The State University of New York board of trustees may have voted to close down Long Island College Hospital, but employees and long-time patients are hoping it won’t happen.
Layoff notices have gone out, including to nurse Sandra Davis, who has worked at the hospital for nearly 30 years. She said she can’t understand the explanation by officials and thinks mismanagement might be to blame.
“It’s really amazing to think that, we’re not doing well, we’re not making money. Something is definitely odd,” Davis told 1010 WINS’ Eileen Lehpamer. “We’re constantly full. We do so many cases a day, per week, per month.”
A public meeting was held Thursday night in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where people spoke about how they are petitioning the New York State Health Department, which has the final say on whether the hospital will shut its doors.
Trudy Wassner, a long-time patient, said the hospital is vital to the community.
“Invariably, I hear stories like ‘Oh my son was born here,’ ‘it saved my life,'” she said. “It’s sort of like a place that I can rely on.”
“The thought of it closing is so upsetting to me. I’ve been totally committed to trying to keep it open,” Wassner added.
Many are now hoping to convince the Department of Health to keep LIC open as a full-service, primary and acute care facility.
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