By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
When Mayor Zohran Mamdani rolled out his $124 billion executive budget proposal last week, it did not include any continuing funds for a new trauma center on the Rockaway peninsula. Now, local officials are calling for the money to be restored in the city\u2019s final fiscal agreement. <\/p>\n
Queens Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, the most vocal proponent of a Rockaway trauma hospital, is calling out the administration for not including the funding that would keep the city on track with constructing the center. <\/p>\n
In an initial statement following Mamdani\u2019s executive budget announcement on Tuesday, Brooks-Powers said she was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d that money was left out. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to continue to build momentum in the conversation, so my hope is that with every budget cycle we continue to chip away towards where we’re looking to go,\u201d Brooks-Powers told reporters over Zoom on Friday. \u201cIt is important for the mayor to demonstrate his support by making sure it’s included in the budget, because he has communicated to me that he believes access to quality health care is a human right, and that he supports the efforts of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my hope that the final budget that’s adopted will demonstrate that, because the budget is a moral document,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
Constructing a trauma center in the Rockaways has been Brooks-Powers\u2019 top priority for several years. The community at-large often cites it as the isolated peninsula\u2019s greatest need. <\/p>\n
It has also long been considered a longshot. But progress was made under the Adams administration when funding was allocated to baseline the proposal and facilitate a land transfer for a possible site for the hospital on Beach 62nd Street. <\/p>\n
But more money \u2013 and a major approval \u2013 will be needed before the trauma center can become a reality. <\/p>\n
According to Brooks-Powers, the city needs to allocate as much as $200 million capital investment money. <\/p>\n
And the state also needs to approve a trauma center designation. That may be the biggest challenge, since Rockaway does not meet the necessary number of trauma cases to meet state standards that would qualify for a level I or level II trauma center, which locals say is needed. <\/p>\n
The councilmember said it is likely that if the center is approved, it would be designated as a level III center, but could be staffed at a higher level to account for Rockaway\u2019s isolation. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe uniqueness of Rockaway being a geographically isolated community that has high needs makes it makes it an opportunity for the state department to be willing to provide us with the certification,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Those two efforts need to happen concurrently, Brooks-Powers said, so that when they secure an operator for the hospital, they have already obtained approvals and cash. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we have a hospital operator identified, the money is there, the land is there,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to pretty much be in a position to place this on a silver platter to these hospital operators, so that they would want to come and service the Rockaway community.<\/p>\n
Local Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson has been making the case at the state level for approval, as well as more funding. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been fighting for capital money to contribute as well,\u201d he said Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s been a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anderson, a close Mamdani-ally and the only Rockaway elected official who endorsed the mayor last year, said he wants his former Assembly colleague to keep his commitments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach When Mayor Zohran Mamdani rolled out his $124 billion executive budget proposal last week, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-235374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}