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(ALBANY, NEW YORK) \u2013 Members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) testified late last week before the New York State Public Health and Health Planning Council\u2019s Establishment and Project Review Committee in Albany in support of two proposed Hospital mergers at Maimonides Medical Center and St. John\u2019s Riverside Hospital as a means of protecting continuity of care for patients and staffing levels for Nurses. \u00a0<\/p>\n
During the hearing, the Committee weighed the benefits of a merger between New York Health+Hospitals and Maimonides Medical Center, which would help maintain continuity of care at Maimonides.<\/p>\n
The facility has long operated with financial constraints and the merger would provide financial stability, while also maintaining Maimonides\u2019 commitment to caring for diverse communities.<\/p>\n
The Committee also discussed Montefiore Health System\u2019s potential acquisition of St. John\u2019s Riverside Hospital, which includes St. John\u2019s Division, Park Care Pavilion and Dobbs Ferry Pavilion. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Maimonides Medical Center is the largest Hospital in Kings County, New York’s most populous County, and sits at the center of one of the most demographically diverse service areas in New York City, spanning Borough Park, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Midwood, Coney Island and dozens of surrounding neighborhoods. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Hospital\u2019s service area includes large Orthodox Jewish, Chinese, Latino, Russian, Caribbean, South Asian and Southeast Asian Communities.<\/p>\n
Roughly 30% of residents have limited English proficiency and 44% are foreign born.<\/p>\n
Continuity of culturally competent and religiously appropriate care for these communities must remain a top priority through any change in governance, NYSNA said.<\/p>\n
NYSNA Member Megan Kuehne, a Nursing Float in Maimonides Medical Center\u2019s Intensive Care Unit, said: \u201cEighty-three percent of our patients are on Medicare or Medicaid and many others are low-income or uninsured. Too often, they don\u2019t seek care until their chronic conditions have become dangerous. Merging with Health and Hospitals would provide us with access to the technology and systems needed to expand high-quality, preventive care needed to better serve some of Brooklyn\u2019s most underserved communities.\u201d<\/p>\n