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The long awaited Berger Commission report, released on Tuesday, contained exactly the news that many borough representatives and healthcare officials were dreading: it recommended the closure of Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills, and the elimination of beds or outright consolidation of other hospitals in the borough.

The Berger Commission, officially known as the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21 Century, was tasked by Gov. George Pataki to evaluate hospitals across the state in an effort to “trim the fat” from the New York State Healthcare system. The commission has come under fire for being a privately-run body with no legislative oversight.

“We were bypassed,” said State Sen. George Onorato (D-Astoria). “It puts us in an awkward position; our hands are tied on this issue.”

In creating the commission, Gov. Pataki mandated that the state legislature either accept the entire findings of the commission, and act on them, or vote to ignore them completely. As the findings of the Commission were released, healthcare representatives and borough leaders scrambled to put their stamp on the proceedings, all with the knowledge that the clock was ticking. Legislative action must be taken by Dec. 31 of this year, according to the founding documentation of the commission.

In the meantime, several Queens hospitals are in limbo. Parkway Hospital was recommended for closure and a recommendation was made to add 40 surgical beds to Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica, while St. John’s Episcopal and Peninsula Center hospitals in the Rockaways were advised to merge in a new centrally located facility. The goal of combining the two hospitals seeks to consolidate care in the Rockaways, even in the face of evidence that the areas are seeing an influx of new residents.

“The patient base will be growing where these hospitals are located,” said Councilman Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach). “It’s not like [Rockaway residents] can shoot to anywhere else quickly.”

This elimination of overlap is in direct conflict with a recent proposal from Borough President Helen Marshall, who maintained that not only should both hospitals remain open, but that a third should be built on the peninsula. The Berger Commission report acknowledged the population growth, but advocated the consolidation of the two hospitals in one facility as a way to establish services that the area has demonstrated a marked need for, while eliminating those that are over-served.

The report further argued that the consolidation was the optimal choice because “neither of the two hospitals runs at full capacity, yet neither can fully absorb the other’s patient load.”

“While I applaud the stated goals of the Berger Commission, it missed the mark by not strengthening patient access to high level services in Queens,” Marshall said in a statement. “With more than 2.2 million residents, and more than 1,400 of them utilizing hospital beds outside the borough on any given day, we can do better.”

Mayor Mike Bloomberg, at a press conference regarding the recent Jamaica club shooting, digressed to give his perspective on the potential changes.

“The city’s hospital system can’t afford empty beds while there are not enough beds in other facilities,” said Bloomberg. “But this is the real world and cuts need to be made.”

Meanwhile, Parkway Hospital, privately run as one of only two for-profit hospitals in New York State, was badly maligned by the report, citing substandard care and a lack of incoming patients as reason to close the facility.

“Using the Commission’s framework criteria, Parkway Hospital is the only hospital in New York State to receive below-average scores on all six of the criteria,” the report read. “Parkway’s low occupancy rate and poor finances indicate that it is unneeded and cannot stand as a viable, stand-alone entity, surrounded by larger, more comprehensive facilities.”

In spite of the findings of the report, the groundswell of support that Parkway Hospital received was considerable. Tucked snuggly at the end of a residential block in Forest Hills, the facility itself was alive with activity Tuesday as members of the City Council and State Senate were joined by U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens) to defend the embattled healthcare facility.

“This is the equivalent of treating a head cold with euthanasia,” Weiner said. “If changes need to be made, we have some ideas for change.”

Speaking to neighborhood residents, press and hospital employees, and even a few inquisitive patients gazing down from their bedroom windows, Weiner outlined a seven-point plan, designed as an alternative to hospital closures.

“We don’t need less healthcare in New York,” he said. “We need better and more advanced healthcare.”

The seven-point plan includes streamlining in-hospital insurance services and encouraging the creation of health systems through hospital mergers.

As for Parkway Hospital specifically, if the Berger Commission report is ratified, there is little that can be done to reverse the decision.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Weiner said. “This is a dire situation.”

Hospital representatives and employees were left standing literally in the cold Tuesday morning, hoping for the best, and ultimately not fully aware of the logic behind their recommended closure.

“We are a private hospital, we cost the state of New York nothing,” said Fred Stewart, Vice President of Marketing for Parkway Hospital. “We’re also the lowest cost acute care hospital in the borough of Queens. Why not single out a hospital in this borough that’s costing the state money?”

Parkway Hospital President and CEO Dr. Robert Aquino implored the state to reconsider in a statement, citing the already fragile nature of healthcare facilities citywide.

“Fourteen hospitals have closed in New York City over the last 10 years. Seven more hospitals have declared bankruptcy in the last year alone,” Aquino said in a statement. “It should be obvious that Queens can ill afford the loss of another hospital.”

His words for his employees, however, did not contain the same note of desperation.

“This hospital will not close,” Aquino shouted to doctors, nurses, MRI technicians and ambulance drivers on the scene. “We will go on.”