The Brooklyn Eagle’s Mary Frost reports on the SUNY’s latest proposal for Long Island College Hospital which would team up developers Fortis with NYU-Langone and Lutheran Medical Center.
Brooklyn Eagle: “With the NYU-Fortis plan the LICH ‘Emergency Room’ would in truth be an urgent care center, as no critically ill patient would ever be transported to the ER by ambulance,” long-time ER physician Dr. Saul Melman said in a statement. Dr. Melman is on the board of Concerned Physicians of LICH, a member of the coalition which has been battling SUNY’s attempts to close LICH for more than a year.
Seriously injured or critically ill patients “would be better off going to an ER that is attached to a full service hospital that cares for patients suffering from stroke, heart attack, GI bleeding, etc.,” Dr. Melman said.
“The proposed ‘stand alone ER’ is smoke and mirrors,” he said. “This is of critical importance if the community surrounding LICH wants an emergency room which can provide emergent care and there, and then immediately transfer care to inpatient services at LICH where minutes may make the difference between life and death. They should be aware that ‘stand-alone ER’ would not provide this.”
