A Coney Island community health clinic is set to reopen in a new, permanent location in what NYC Health+Hospitals called a “significant milestone” for providing healthcare to the community.
Hospital leaders, doctors, and elected officials including U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries gathered on Surf Avenue on Tuesday cut the ribbon on the Ida G. Israel Community Health Center, which will offer primary care, family medicine, and more.
“This new location represents our unwavering commitment to meeting the healthcare needs of the Coney Island community,” said Svetlana Lipyanskaya, CEO of NYC Health+Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health, in a statement. “By expanding and enhancing our facilities, we are strengthening access to vital services and ensuring that our patients receive the highest quality care in a welcoming and supportive environment.”
The clinic, like hundreds of other buildings in Coney Island, was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Three years later, with $7.5 million in FEMA funds, it re-opened in a temporary location on West 19th Street.
In the coming weeks, it will officially open to patients, per Health+Hospitals, pending final inspections by the state Department of Health.
At 1607 Surf Ave., the new Ida G. Israel Community Health Center will offer primary care, family medicine, pediatrics, and colorectal services. Around the corner at 2932 West 16th St., it will provide care for substance abuse disorder and chemical dependency.
The clinic has been an “integral part of the community” for more than 25 years, said Dr. Omar Fattal, Deputy Chief Officer of Behavioral Health at Health+Hospitals, and he belives its new, modernized location will make it easier for patients to access care.
“Our goals are to start life-saving treatment, reduce risk, make our patients feel seen, and treat them with dignity,” Fattal said in a statement. “We are dedicated to addressing the substance use crisis, better understanding and treating patients living with this disease, providing education and continuing to build a strong sense of community and recovery.”
After Sandy, Coney Islanders said rebuilding the health center was critically important, Jeffries said at the ribbon-cutting.
“In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, we made clear that the Ida G. Israel Community Health Center would be rebuilt on the West End of Coney Island,” he said. “That was a promise to the people of this community. And today, thanks to New York City officials, community leaders and colleagues, that promise has been kept.”
But the clinic may face new challenges, he warned. Community health centers like Ida G. Israel are partially funded by the federal government.
Late last month, President Donald Trump froze all federal funding, and though the order was quickly reversed, some community health centers across the country were still unable to access their funds more than a week later.
“Our view is that access to high quality and affordable health care is a right. That is what the community health center represents,” Jeffries said. “We will continue to work with the City of New York to ensure that the funding is available at the federal government level to meet the healthcare needs of the people of Coney Island, and the amazing communities that will be served by this community health center.”
The congressman also vowed to protect Medicaid funding, which Republicans are also seeking to slash. As much of 50% of community health center funding comes from Medicaid, he said, and cuts could be devastating.
While some uncertainty looms, Lipyanskaya, said the clinic is in it for the long haul.
“We’re very excited to be here in the west end of Coney Island and to be here for the long haul and to really care for this wonderful, wonderful vibrant community,” she told Brooklyn Paper.
