Just back from my daily walk to LICH.
I first went to the ER, where a friendly guard, sitting inside at the entranceway, smiled nicely as I walked in. There was absolutely nobody in the waiting room, at least as far as guards or patients. . There were two people at the admitting window. One was signing in a mother and child, but the other woman cried to me that it was so slow – there was nothing to do. Anyone with an emergency could walk in and be taken care of immediately.
I didn’t notice any signs posted as to what services were or were not available.
Next I walked to the Hicks Street entrance. A number of security guards were placed strategically around the front of the hospital, but the overall security presence was slightly less than it’s been. I walked right through the revolving doors, into the coffee shop/Taco Bell.
The woman behind the counter wasn’t all that happy that there were less security guards. That is because their reduction has not been matched by a rise in patients and their guests. Business is way off. Much of their daily stock of freshly baked pastries remain unsold and are thrown away at night. This even after they cut the amounts they bake. The Taco Bell is closing at 6:30 instead of 9 pm, and the coffee ship is considering cutting their hours as well.
Perhaps the unions might consider running some ads in the Daily News letting Brooklyn know that many of LICH services are being restored. Many, at least here in Red Hook, believe the hospital has already closed. SUNY Downstate has done nothing to correct this impression – it’s the impression out there that they need.
Just received word that there will be a press conference at NYSNA headquarters at 4 pm. The text is headlined GROUNDBREAKING LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS. I will check it out and report back later this afternoon.
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This is a political ruse. There are NO ambulances allowed at LICH. There won’t be for quite some time. So continue to pay thousands of staff members with basically no income close interfaith. It is a terrible hospital.
The Supreme Court Judge Demarest just invalidated/cancelled the 2011 merge & took LICH away from SUNY. Citing that SUNY had deliberately misled the court & many others when it asked for the merge to maintain a hospital at LICH, took control of LICH assets & then tried to close the hospital, SUNY had breached the agreement. Therefore she ordered that SUNY return all assets to LICH & turn over operations to another operator. She is holding a hearing in her chambers with all parties involved & the DOH to determine a new operator for LICH’s future. Main point: LICH is no longer SUNY’s to close or to sell!
Their standing as a learning hospital needs to be restored ASAP. It never should have been taken away in the first place.