Help save our hospital!

Letters from LICH Supporters

To Whom It May Concern,

I have attended most, if not all of the community hearings/discussions on LICH’s fate. I am solidly behind the opposition to Continuum Health Partners mismanagement of LICH and plans for severing ties with this organization that has shown little regard for the healthcare needs of the community and LICH’s history of service and potential to better meet those needs.  I am pleased to learn the DOH’s rejection of CHP proposal and look forward to the possibilities of a new beginning for this venerable, albeit battered institution. 

My purpose for writing parallel with my words of support for the LICH Medical Staff and the institution on the whole, is that throughout this process I’ve not heard a single mention of the nursing school. It is as if it were nonexistent or an entirely separate and isolated entity rather than a part of LICH sharing the same demoralizing hardships and threats under CHP mismanagement.  I was a member of the last graduating class of LICHSON.  The 124th of such!  Throughout my schooling our class was displaced by the closure and sale of the Court St building after the first year. In the third semester we were ‘homeless’ having our lectures in the conference rooms in the main building (where not more than once our lectures were delayed, cancelled or curtailed due to scheduling conflicts)  In fourth semester we finally seemed to have our own designated space in the Polhemus building, which CHP planned(s) to sell off. However, in the medical staff’s written submission to the state no such mention the nursing school was made with regards to the building or institution on the whole.

The oft-mentioned disparity of support and resources between the Manhattan based facilities and LICH is clearly evident between Beth Israel Nursing School and LICHSON.  How much more apparent can it be to consider that Beth Israel School of Nursing has the assets to provide for an Artist in Residence, while when we were in the Court Street building we at times had no heat and when it snowed no one came by to shovel the entranceway. Not to neglect mention that throughout we lacked most of the basic technologic teaching/learning tools standard in most schools, most assuredly at BI. Preposterous as these small examples are, they are discomforts and inconveniences, trivial, compared to the trials of our clinical rotations where we experienced the same relative (and absolute) paucity of resources and supplies highlighted in LICH Medical Staff’s opposition to CHP. I routinely had to go from floor to floor scavenging for an incentive spirometer for a post surgical patient, bargaining for a diaper for an incontinent patient, or begging for a blanket (even an extra sheet) for a cold patient.

A shortage of Registered Nurses will emerge in the coming years. As the community can ill afford to lose its obstetrics and pediatric services nor can it afford one less nursing school to create and mold the professionals who will eventually staff these units.  My class was the most recent of a long line of graduates of LICHSON. As a class we had a passage rate on the licensing exam (NCLEX) far exceeding the national average. This is due to the sheer guts and commitment of an often weary and frayed faculty led by Asst. Dean Mary Gonzalez to make good nurses despite all of the of the adversity and deprivation unfelt by the students of our well fed and provided for ‘sister’ school.  

As a community member, a former patient whose life was saved by the close proximity of LICH and care I received, as a student where I was provided the opportunity to learn to care for patients such as I had been, and finally as a hopeful future staff nurse on 9 North, I whole heartedly support the LICH medical staff and any alternative plan for stabilization and long term growth of LICH rather than the gradual dismantling and selling of the facility implicit in Continuum  Health Partners chronic ill regard and designs.  Please allow me, the graduates past present and future, the faculty and staff of LICHSON to be included in future dialogue and part of your plan for saving Long Island College Hospital.

Elliot C Green, RN

Please be aware that this is my own personal statement. I am not acting as an official or De facto representative of LICHSON

Dear Karen

I’m sure you are aware that Continuum Health Partners has been trying to eliminate some of the services at Long Island College Hospital.  It seems that their long term goal is to ultimately close the hospital. 

The increased population in downtown Brooklyn, and the crowded conditions in most New York hospitals make it more important than ever to increase or maintain health, services rather than eliminate them.  Even though the Health Department has denied permission for Continuum to close some of the services at LICH, Continnum will most likely continue on this path and elected officials need to monitor the situation closely.

In addition to the loss of health care, in this day of economic instability, hundreds of jobs would also be lost, further impacting on the businesses and stability of downtown Brooklyn.  Please help find a plan to keep the current hospital services intact now, and for years to come.

Linda Blyer

Cobble Hill

November 10, 2008  

Went to the meeting at Boro Hall this evening. There were many testimonies in favor of preserving LICH as a community hospital. It seems as though the elected officials GET IT, Absent was the Continuum and any representative from the DOH. It was mentioned how shameful it was that neither organization was present to hear the sentiments of the community and LICH family.

Caroline Johnson, RN  from the NICU spoke very well and I think was the most heart felt testimony of the evening. She spoke about the exodus of our great NICU and Peds Docs. Depletion of services. Diversions from other hospitals to LICH. Care at our institution from Life to Death. The disrespect by Continuum .

Some folks cried, some voices quivered as they spoke, some were angry and others confused.

Amongst the speakers were Doctors, Patients, Nurses, members of community board 6, and our congressmen. Joan Millman, Marty Markowitz, Hakeem Jeffries, Letitia James, and others. They urged us to continue to write letters to the Governor on this issue.

The pulse of the courtroom was intense. All of us there for the same purpose to save LICH, but not one with a clue as to how the pendulum will swing.

So we wait.

Cheryl Powell, RN (case management dept)

Dear Mr Cline,  

As a former intern at LICH it is with great pleasure that I read your letter of November 17, 2008 to Mr Stanzione the interim CEO of LICH.

If nothing else can be learned from the financial meltdown of the past few months, one thing that has become very clear is that the large corporations and their CEO's are very very fallible.  Continuum Health Partners and its CEO had failed financial policies, made undefendable statements to the public, wouldn't meet with the medical staff to discuss financial options and as a result would have caused immeasureable harm to the community surrounding LICH if left to their own devices. 

I believe it is time to phase out Continuum Health Partners and return LICH back to the community.  This community truly cares about LICH, which is after all more than just a business, it is a Hospital, and all that such an entity means to the well being of the families of Brooklyn.

Best Regards,    

Peeter Jakobson, MD 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! Now let's continue to stay UNITED.... do NOT let individual egos stand in the way of a HEALTHY,PRODUCTIVE, PREMIERE medical center ....LICH as it always was !!!!!

It has been my experience, as a LICH family member,the ONE hospital I have ALWAYS been impressed by has been HAS (Hospital for Special Surgery). Perhaps we can learn some lessons from them ... my son has been a patient there over the past 21 years ..... the philosophy there (and it hasn't changed under any administration) starts from the top (CEO - we've met him in the elevator and he spoke with my son and I  as if he knew us ) all the way down to the parking lot attendants (whom I know very well). ...THAT'S how LICH used to work . Just a thought !

Thank you for your efforts and commitment ................  

Again anything I can do to help, please let me know

    Rosemarie F.Farrell ,RN, BS

 

November 10th, 2008

Dear Elected Officials,

My name is Colleen Giunta, I have lived in Carroll Gardens for the last 34 years and my husband for 50 years.  We have raised our 4 children here and loved being a part of Carroll Gardens (Red Hook).   L.I.C.H. has been a vital part of our lives, especially since one of my sons suffered from asthma, and at one time spent 5 days in intensive care at L.I.C.H., aside from many visits to the ER with 4 very active children and a husband who is a firefighter.  Between all of us we have a total of 10 doctors at L.I.C.H.  Need I say more as to the importance of this hospital to our family?

I volunteered to help in any capacity to keep this hospital alive.  Please do the same for all the thousands of families this will affect.  I have been working for the good of our neighborhood for over 20 years.  Along with Connie Gibbons, Buddy Scotto and a few other neighbors we established the First Place Block Association later became Tri-Block Association in order include additional blocks and now CGNA to expand even further.  I have worked diligently on many issues and projects to help and improve our neighborhood over the course of these 20 years, but this issue I feel is the most important and crucial issue of all, that is my opinion.

We cannot allow Continuum to swallow up the hospital and its real estate, only to divert these monies to other facilities, it is beyond comprehension, how they are getting away with this and how the Department of Health has failed us yet again.  It appears that the last thing the Health Department is worrying about is the health and well being of all the thousands of people who would be affected by the closing of L.I.C.H. and its clinics.

It brings back to mind in 1996-1997, when the concern of a cancer cluster was discovered and was being investigated it took over a year before the Health Department even considered sitting down with the hospital and it’s committees. Until our elected officials put the pressure on them, they were no where to be found.  Then when they finally come to the table in 1998, to discuss the issue and show us their statistics, the stats were so outdated they were of no use to anyone.  They dated back to 1990 what kind of a Health Department is NYC running here, and they weren’t even embarrassed.  In all my experiences getting involved with the NYC Health Dept was like running into a brick wall.

How dare they, not send a representative to be apart of such a major health crisis.  This Department should be investigated right along with Continuum. 

I say we have to scream a little louder and reach a little further.  Where are the big developers, why haven’t they come out on such a big issue, shouldn’t they be concerned since they plan on bringing tens of thousands of people into this area.  How does this sound as advertisement, come to a neighborhood that no longer has a hospital, or come sit in an arena and should a crisis arise don’t worry we’ll get you to an over crowded hospital in another neighborhood or another borough.

Please continue to help us and thank you for all the support you have given us thus far, I will, remember who you are come election day.  I am known to be a squeaky wheel although some people refer to me as a thorn in their side I prefer squeaky wheel, so if there is anything I can do to help, let me know.

Sincere thanks,

Colleen Giunta
58 1st Place
Brooklyn, New York 11231

I am one of the hundreds of Brooklyn residents & taxpayers who are the patients of LICH - who not only depend on LICH for the VITAL services it provides us, but also the vast network of doctors connected with LICH located in the surrounding community.  For years, our use of LICH services has helped sustain & build up LICH.  

Continuum's slow destruction of LICH is an outrage & a crime against us the patients - especially, as alleged, how finances available & earmarked to run LICH have apparently been mismanaged, squandered or just plain given away to finance Continuum's Manhattan hospitals!

Now, by shutting down departments such as dental, Continuum is jeopardizing our health care - forcing LICH patients to split up their medical treatment among different hospitals.  For the many LICH dental patients whose medical conditions require dental care in a hospital setting  (including myself) - this means that, should medical complications arise at a new dental location, we risk getting treatment from doctors unfamiliar with our medical histories, rather than our own LICH-affiliated doctors.

Continuum's layoffs of LICH staff poses another threat to our health care - I and the other patients have grave concerns for the effect that staff shortages will have on the quality of care in remaining departments, as well as the cleanliness of the hospital.

Deterioration of conditions guarantees that more patients will leave, especially those who can afford to go elsewhere, further straining the hospital finances, & all but guaranteeing the eventual shutdown of the entire hospital.

We need our elected representatives to step up NOW to save our healthcare!  The LICH financial situation needs to be thoroughly investigated & it must be known without a doubt where the LICH-earmarked finances have gone!  Should the LICH-earmarked finances have been used for anything other than what they were intended, ALL steps must be taken to recover the full amount.  The LICH doctors' alternative plan needs to be implemented & given a chance to succeed.

We are all now seeing the damage done to the economy by previously well-respected financial institutions - because no action was taken as the problem was developing.   Here on the sidelines in Brooklyn, our healthcare faces a similar fate.

PLEASE don't ALLOW Continuum to destroy Brooklyn healthcare!


Sincerely,
Lynn Bell

Maria Pagano 436 Sackett St Brooklyn NY 11231    Rhea436@aol.com
November 11, 2008
The Honorable Marty Markowitz
Brooklyn Borough President
Borough Hall
209 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Dear Marty,
            My sincere thanks for convening the hearing on Monday night.  It was a welcome opportunity to bring our local communities together and learn more about the hospital’s current crisis.  As I did not speak on Monday night, please add my letter to those in support of maintaining LICH as our community hospital.
            I heartily agree with the doctor’s plan, and request that every effort be made to open the conversation with Continuum towards restoring LICH operations and management to LICH.

            I cannot accept the fact that a corporation has been allowed to decide the health care of so many.  How could a corporation be allowed to determine the access to health services for the whole of downtown Brooklyn and the surrounding communities? Where is their obligation to the public they have stripped of services?    This cannot be allowed to continue.
            I know that you and our other local elected officials recognize the severity of the risk in permitting Continuum to continue to dismantle the services at LICH.  I am confident that you will work with us, the doctors and communities to restore the vital services LICH provides.   Please let me know how I can help.
            Thank you!
 Best,
Maria Pagano
CC: Toomas Sorra, MD
 LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL IS OUR
 COMMUNITY HOSPITAL! 
WE NEED LICH HEALTHY AND WHOLE.

As a graduate of the school of nursing and an instructor ( I teach child birth education and have for 29 years at LICH  ) I know we could be a premiere birthing facility and people would flock  to us instead of going  to Manhattan.  
Our staff REALLY care , they are smart and they exist like a family ..... we need to return to that sense of family. There used to be a time when you would walk through the halls and if there was paper or a spill it would be picked  up , covered and housekeeping called...PRIDE ..OUR HOME.... That's What's Missing.

As far as ob we need to give the people what they want: private space, spouses to stay  and a clean environment ..... we have a GREAT VIEW!!

instead of blocking rooms for admission ( 5 rooms are currently blocked) open them up to be private , charge a minimum fee and provide support( there are plenty of staff willing and able to support ). remember we were one of the first OB depts to have ROOMING- IN  .WE are PROGRESSIVE ...Let's Show it .....

We have GREAT Docs, who have a life INVESTED in  LICH , they grew here  ... they need to  share their experience and knowledge.... demand the same level of performance as was ALWAYS REQUIRED.

 

The community is young, yes demanding , but that's no different then LICH has ever faced. Our patients , Doctors and leaders were always DEMANDING. We worked to accomplish that level of care.RAISE THE BAR ....PROVE WE CAN DO IT.

WHAT CAN I DO ??

  Rosemarie F.Farrell ,RN, BS

 

Long Island College Hospital is now in its Judas hours, as Jesus thought Judas would be behind him as one of his followers, LICH has the Continuum.  

When LICH merged with Continuum, it was under the false pretense that we would be saved from the debt that we were in, and given another chance to service our faithful, deserving patients. These patients not only live in the surrounding areas, but visit from Staten Island, Long Island, New Jersey, and elsewhere.

However, unbeknownst to us,  Continuum slowly diverted much needed funds and resources from LICH into its own pockets, providing them with pristine facilities and equipment, while LICH continued to use sometimes outdated ones, still bestowing compassion and top notch care to its patients.  

What a travesty this is, now the quick fix for Continuum is to close the much needed OB/GYN department, are you kidding us????, where should the women in the neighborhood go to deliver their children? Already involved in a relationship with their doctors, they would have to go the other hospitals and meet with strangers? Some of these women and their families walk to LICH, as they do not even have the resources to take the train or bus. Did your mothers have their children delivered by strangers?  What malpractice suits? , what hospitals don't have problems?   
We don't think this is the answer to this problem, why don't they close some of the departments at BI, and divert some of those funds to LICH, why aren't some of BI properties sold to help LICH, instead of closing departments that have serviced countless patients, including some of us for many years?  Looks like they own countless properties that they could do away with, perhaps they want the patients to visit BI and have more LICH money thrown into BI to purchase even more modern machinery and do more reconstruction.

Well, as we said Judas betrayed Jesus.  
Thank you for your attention,

Concerned and devoted employees and employees that are patients of our LICH.

To whom it may concern,
 
      I would like to share my story of a recent 3 month stay at 
LICH  NICU.  My son was born on March 7, 2008 he was suppose to 
come in mid  June.  He weighed 1'14 ounces and was only 13 inches 
long this making  him a micro preemie.  We were first time parents 
and it was a  terrifying sight to see your baby so so small and so 
sick.  It was far  from the dream we had in mind. Right before his 
delivery the NICU  doctors tried to prepare us for what we were 
about to face and as my  husband and I sobbed I saw the tears in
the doctors eyes and felt much  compassion from her.  I will never 
forget the first time I saw my son  in the NICU nothing could ever
prepare you but the nurses took the  time to explain as much as 
they could and made sure I felt comfortable  enough to trust them 
so I could recover.  I have never met a group of  doctors and 
nurses so dedicated and loving as the NICU staff at LICH.   Being 
there for 3 months we really got to know each other well.  I'm  not 
sure how I left at the end of the day but the staff took care of  
my son as if he was there own they loved every baby that came
through  those doors and work hard to keep them all alive.  They 
cried with me  and felt my joy when I was able to take my little 
boy home.  I would  of never gotten through this experience without
them.  I will forever  hold them dear to my heart.  The NICU staff
has worked together many  many years it pains me to think they may 
break this hard working  family up.  Please do all you can to not
let this happen and if there  is anything I can do I would and will.
 

Thank you,
Melissa Zuardo

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