HHC President Alan D. Aviles Inspects Clean-Up and Restoration Work at Coney Island Hospital After Hurricane Sandy
24/7 Walk-in, Non-Emergency Healthcare Services Open to Community; Three Mobile Medical Vans Dispatched to Hard-Hit Areas of Brooklyn and Staten Island
Nov 20, 2012
New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) President Alan D. Aviles today inspected the ongoing clean-up and restoration work taking place at Coney Island Hospital. and toured areas of the facility that sustained significant damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. President Aviles also reminded New Yorkers that the hospital is open for business offering extended clinic hours and walk-in, non-emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help meet the healthcare needs of the local community most affected by the storm. President Aviles was joined by Coney Island Hospital Executive Director Arthur Wagner, Medical Officer Dr. John Maese and Chief Nursing Officer Terry Mancher.
The hospital is offering outpatient primary care service for children and adults, and is running adult and pediatric clinics and limited outpatient specialty care, Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm and Saturday and Sunday from 8am-4pm. Pharmacy services are also available for prescription renewals, 9am-5pm. The hospital also dispatched 3 mobile medical units to areas in Brooklyn and Staten Island to service communities that are isolated from any primary care. Limited emergency room services will open by the end of this month and full emergency room services and hospital admissions will begin in January 2013.
“Coney Island Hospital serves many of the communities hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy and the temporary closure after the storm represented a loss of healthcare services,” said Aviles. “But despite the catastrophic systems failures caused by flood waters that submerged the 10-foot high basement, Coney Island Hospital was able to open its doors just days after the storm to serve New Yorkers most in need of healthcare.”
“Our main building, emergency room and busiest outpatient service areas were damaged badly but we are working around the clock to clean-up and restore these main areas and we hope to have those back in operation by next month. But more work will be needed to repair or replace the major systems that were affected, including the electrical, communications, mechanical and heating systems,” said Executive Director Arthur Wagner.
“After the evacuation, we were completely focused on providing care as quickly as possible to this community that was so devastated by the storm. When we opened our doors just four days after, it was like a beacon of light in an area where the storm had moved houses off their foundations, scattered personal possessions and memories, and left many residents, including our patients and staff, in despair. We are happy to be serving the community 24/7 and look forward to being back in full operation to meet all the healthcare needs of the people of South Brooklyn and Staten Island,” said Dr. John Maese.
“We were in the dark and ankle deep in water, but we never lost sight of our main concern: the health and safety of our patients. We provided medical care and we also provided a hand to hold and the reassurance that everything was going to be okay,” said Chief Nurse Terry Mancher.
Following the evacuation, Coney Island patients were transferred to some private hospitals and other sister facilities in the HHC system, including Kings County Hospital where Coney Island’s cancer patients continue to receive life-saving treatment.
Coney Island Hospital is not the only HHC facility that sustained significant damage from the storm. Bellevue Hospital Center, Metropolitan Hospital, and Coler-Goldwater, the long-term care facility on Roosevelt Island, also sustained serious damage. HHC’s Harlem Hospital Center sustained modest damage. Reconstruction and repair costs will be partly offset by $300 million in emergency restoration-related capital construction funds allocated by Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Council last week for the benefit of HHC public hospitals.
For more information about services available at Coney Island Hospital or to make an appointment, patients should call 718-616-3001 or 311.
Contact: Ian Michaels (HHC) (212) 788-3339
About Coney Island Hospital
Coney Island Hospital is a member of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and has served the Southern Brooklyn community since 1875. The 371 -bed hospital has more than 2,900 staff. Inpatient services account for 18,000 discharges annually and an extensive ambulatory care program serves more than 300,000 outpatient primary care and specialty care visits annually. Its emergency room sees more than 61,000 visits every year. Clinical centers of excellence include: Primary Care, Adolescent Medicine and Nuclear Medicine.
About HHC
The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a $6.7 billion integrated healthcare delivery system with its own 420,000 member health plan, MetroPlusHealth, and is the largest municipal healthcare organization in the country. HHC serves 1.4 million New Yorkers every year and more than 475,000 are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 70 community based clinics. HHC Health and Home Care also provides in-home services for New Yorkers. HHC was the 2008 recipient of the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission’s John M. Eisenberg Award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality. For more information, visit www.nychhc.org/hhc or find us on facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or twitter.com/NYCHealthSystem.