LICH Moving Patients Out – “Don’t get sick in this part of Brooklyn”: #SaveLICH

By on July 18, 2013 3:12 pm in Cobble Hill, Neighborhoods, News

@BilldeBlasio


The latest LICH news—that patients will start to be moved today, with the plan of moving them all by this weekend—was met with chants of “Shame on Cuomo!” “Shame on SUNY!” and “Save our hospital!” A nurse I spoke with (who asked not to be named) said, “There are four ambulances sitting here that can’t do anything. Meanwhile Christine Quinn couldn’t get an ambulance the other day because they were all lined up with patients … [Councilmember] Tish James was called to Brooklyn Hospital because fights broke out … People say ‘You should have no problem because you have hospitals nearby,’ but there is overcrowding in the ERs and no room for ambulances. When Brooklyn Hospital can’t take you, what happens? All I can say is don’t get sick in this part of Brooklyn.”

She continued with, “It’s painful that people are listening to Cuomo and saying it’s a dump—it doesn’t matter about the frills. Come in and see what we do.” We’ll report more as we hear. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Councilmember Stephen Levin are on the scene, though so far no sign of Governor Cuomo or Mayor Bloomberg.

RELATED: Media Coverage Of Thursday’s Flash Rally to SaveLICH

Share this Story:

, ,

  • gc

    Disgraceful !

  • maribel

    Real Estate Greed Prevails Over Lives of Citizens, That need This hospital. Bloomberg, Cuomo, Get a Heart attack.

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    SUNY Board of Thugs — Unfit to serve

  • Remsen Street Dweller

    Seriously, why should we pay state taxes and property taxes — we get nothing for it. We lose healthcare in our neighborhood and the SUNY Board of Buffoons continues to mismanage Downstate.

  • BrooklynLifer

    The most depressing aspect of the LICH story is the utter lack of accountability of its operator – SUNY Downstate.

    This entity acquired LICH in mid-2011 with promises of a merger that would be beneficial to both parties. Less than one year later (summer 2012) SUNY Downstate fired its top administrators (some say because they refused to go along with a LICH closure plan). SUNY replaced them with a hatchet man – Dr. John Williams who was hired to close LICH. Dr. Williams arrived and was ‘unavailable’ to meet with community organizations in the LICH neighborhood. In January the SUNY plan was unveiled: close LICH, sell off the real estate for luxury and gain a financial for SUNY Downstate which has always relied on state bailouts to stay afloat.

    If these actions were taken by any entity other than a state agency (protected by a Governor who has refused to go on record about LICH can’t stand up and make a statement to his constituents), there would be an enormous outcry. A hospital cannot be closed without the approval of the NYS Department of Health. But since SUNY is a child of the Executive Branch of NYS government, the DOH is neutered since its head – Dr. Nirav Shah – serves at the pleasure of Governor Cuomo. The likelihood that the DOH will ever go on record to say that closing LICH will have a negative impact on healthcare in western Brooklyn is nil.

    To whom are Dr. John Williams, Dr. Michael Lucchesi and the ‘consultants’ from Pitts Management accountable?

    Certainly not the public?

    Certainly not the local elected officials?

    Certainly not the courts?

    Maybe to the development and real estate interests whom Governor Cuomo needs in pursuit of higher office?

  • Heights_Neighbor

    And we don’t get a functioning library for our tax dollars either!

  • nombre

    LICH is no dump. The lack of décor & investment in appearance by its 2 most recent operators does not negate the fact that for several years in a row LICH has been nationally ranked as one of the best in terms of quality & care . Just this week it is once again listed in US News & World Report Best Hospitals edition as the #2 hospital in Brooklyn. It is also ranked in the top 30 out of the hundreds of hospitals ranked statewide & in NYC. In the 2012-2013, 4 LICH specialites were ranked as among the best “high-performing” services. In the 2013-2014 evaluation, 5 LICH specialties achieved that ranking. You want fancy art work on the walls, go to the Met. You want your life saved, go to LICH

  • nombre

    Dr. Williams arrived and was ‘unavailable’ to meet with community organizations in the LICH neighborhood. BUT he had time to go to dinner with his long time old friend Brooklyn Hospital CEO Richard Becker who was the 1st person Williams met with when he came to NY – being hired by SUNY without a university president search & after losing his last job over a scandal & investigation of his medical school that resulted in it becoming the only one in the nation placed on probation by the accreditation board. Hmm sounds familiar.

  • MonroeOrange

    They are converting the hospital to a Library!