The state sent millions of dollars to local hospitals to cope with the closing of Victory Memorial Hospital.
The money will allow the hospitals to expand or improve their services and facilities, as their patient count is expected to increase due to Victory Memorial’s demise.
“In anticipation of increased volume at Maimonides, the medical center was awarded $11 million in HEAL NY funds from the state. The grant money will offset some of the costs associated with the renovation of the obstetrics post-partum unit and the upgrading of the coronary care unit,” explained Eileen Tynion, spokesperson for Maimonides Medical Center, located at 4802 Tenth Avenue.
Both Lutheran Medical Center and Coney Island Hospital received large sums to fund emergency room upgrades.
Coney Island, located at 2601 Ocean Parkway, received $6,322,000.
Lutheran, 150 55th Street, received $13,230,630.
Claudia Caine, Lutheran’s chief operating officer, acknowledged, “It is certainly true that New York emergency room wait times are too long.”
“To combat that trend, Lutheran has taken a leadership role by creating aggressive new initiatives, like the Quick Care program and our innovative redesign of our emergency services, all of which have been named industry best practices,” Caine added.
The state funding will allow for an expansion of Lutheran’s intensive care unit (ICU). Ten new ICU beds will be created, bringing the hospital’s total to 32. This will allow patients to move more quickly from the emergency room to the ICU, thereby freeing up emergency room beds for incoming patients.
State Senator Marty Golden applauded the funding allocations.
“This funding will improve our local hospitals while providing better access to primary care,” Golden noted.
He said the hospitals “required this funding so to make provisions to provide an even greater level of care for all residents of southwest Brooklyn with Victory now being closed.”
Victory Memorial closed in June as part of a state effort to decrease health care costs. An urgent care center run by SUNY Downstate Medical Center and a nursing home now operate at the site.
