Mary Immaculate is in danger of closing. The Berger Commission The Commission for Healthcare in the 21st Century, also known as the Berger Commission, is expected to release its findings in a few weeks, and many healthcare officials worry that Queens underperforming hospitals may be in line for several closings. “There’s a lot of apprehension,” Fougner said. “It’s worse that nobody knows.” The Greater New York Hospitals Association, in a recent statement, implored the Berger Commission to consider the well-being of New Yorkers before axing needed hospitals and services. “While we believe the Commission has indeed taken these needs into account,” GNYHA President Kenneth Raske said in the statement, “we call on the New York State Department of Health to develop, with the input of providers, an implementation plan that will ensure communities are properly educated about their options in the event of a hospital closure.” The borough president’s plan represents an improvement on such an implementation plan, and healthcare officials are hopeful that it can make a difference. “Since everybody’s under the gun, you have to react positively,” Fougner said. One health system in Queens that has seen an important renaissance is the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, which recently received approval from the Department of Health to take over St. Johns Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate in Jamaica. The two hospitals, which were in danger of closing, will now continue to operate under the auspices of a new health system. The former caretaker of St. Johns and Mary Immaculate, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, is locked in a struggle with bankruptcy. Over the past year, the communities around these hospitals have been fearful of their fate, worried that medical services as well as jobs would be lost. “Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, St. John’s Queens and Mary Immaculate Hospitals have a long history of caring for the residents of Brooklyn and Queens,” said Dominick J. Gio, President and CEO of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. “On January 1st, together we will experience a new beginning and are committed to providing an enhanced level of services to our communities.” Queens Heart Troubles One important service that St. Johns and Mary Immaculate offered in the borough was basic cardiac care. Queens residents left the borough for cardiac care above all else in 2004, and the numbers in Western Queens are staggering. A full 40 percent of Western Queens residents sought cardiac care in other parts of New York city, largely because that particular area of Queens is extremely underserved. Another problem area is Glen Oaks, near Nassau County, which saw more than 10,000 patients leave the borough for medical care. Queens only offers cardiology specialists in a limited number of hospitals, and those that do are often overworked, offering only basic diagnostic services. In 2004, more than 16,000 cardiology patients sought treatment in locations outside of Queens, nearly double the next closest reason for leaving. Open heart surgery patients also fled the borough, with 73 percent of all patients being discharged to locations outside Queens. “A part of it is the perception that you get better care in New York [City],” said Dr. Furqan Tejani, Director of Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging at Long Island College Hospital of Brooklyn. Tejani was recently honored by a national healthcare magazine for using his technical expertise to improve patient care. Tejani continued saying that Manhattan draws a great deal of patients from the outer boroughs, because most of Manhattan hospitals are able to offer everything, from diagnostics through surgery and recovery, under one roof. In Queens, a patient has to go from one place to another, to get similar care. “The quality is the same [as Manhattan],” Tejani said, “it’s just that you have three stops to make.” Fougner said he thought Marshall’s plan represented an important step in keeping patients, like those who leave for cardiovascular care, in the borough. “It’s an opportunity for us to network with people with the ability to get things done,” Fougner said. “Our biggest problem in Queens is actually getting a person to the hospital. Sometimes it’s just faster to call a cab.” “When you have a heart attack, time is muscle,” Tejani said, “The idea has been that you give the cardiovascular care in the most timely fashion that you can.” In a borough that discharges nearly three-quarters of its cardiac patients to other areas, timely medical care often falls off the radar, disappearing to other parts of the city. “It all depends on the dedication of elected officials,” Fougner said. The idea of the revamped Queens healthcare plan is to help doctors “seeing their own patients, in their own borough, and not seeing them disappear.”

[Feature Archives]