One fear some Cobble Hill residents harbor is that if indeed Long Island College Hospital shuts down its maternity and pediatric units, as it has threatened to do, the buildings will become condos. What about all the babies and kids those new condo residents will surely have? What about all the babies and kids already in the neighborhood, one of the many Brooklyn locales where procreators flock? What will happen if LICH closes some of its doors? Well, Jeff Strabone, president of the Cobble Hill Association, predicts this: "“People would die,” he told the NY Times. “People would die because at some point, someone’s not going to make it to the hospital in time, either because they’re taking a taxi to Manhattan or they’re taking an ambulance across Brooklyn to another hospital." Problem is, Contiuum Health Partners, LICH's owner, says if they don't lop off maternity and pediatrics, they're in danger of going bankrupt. Contiuum has vowed to work with the State Department of Health, who offered them a $3 million loan (pocket change for a hospital, apparently), and a couple of other plans have been floated: "The hospital’s staff has proposed taking it over and maintaining all its operations, and others have suggested a partnership with another local hospital." In fact, the staff have their own Web site dedicated to saving the hospital, with news about their hopes to wrest it from Continuum's clutches.
As a Hospital Awaits Its Fate, It Leaves Lives in the Balance [NY Times]
Photo by LICH Medical Staff.
