FEMA Supports Proposal to Expand Network of Medical Services for South Shore of Nassau County

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a finding in support of South Nassau’s alternative use proposal to use $171 million of FEMA funds to improve medical services for the South Shore of Nassau County by building a Medical Arts Pavilion in Long Beach and a Southwest Addition at its Oceanside campus.

As part of its Environmental Assessment of the projects, FEMA determined that the hospital’s proposal will have ‘no significant adverse impact’ on the quality of the human environment in relation to conditions prior to Super Storm Sandy.  This finding, which took into consideration substantive comments received during the public review period, means the agency has determined there is no need to conduct a more lengthy Environmental Impact study.

The FEMA funds were appropriated by Congress after South Nassau demonstrated a commitment and sufficient financial strength to restore medical services to the South Shore following Superstorm Sandy that forced the closing of the former Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach.  The New York State Office of Emergency Management oversees administration of the FEMA funds.

“The report’s finding is verification that South Nassau has developed a responsible plan that will allow us to meet the future healthcare needs of the communities we serve all along the South Shore of Nassau County,” said Richard J. Murphy, President and CEO.

South Nassau’s alternative use proposal includes the construction of a $130 million four-story, 58,000 square foot addition to the Southwest corner of the hospital as well as a $40 million Medical Arts Pavilion to be built on site of the former Long Beach Medical Center.

The Southwest Addition will feature a new, medically advanced critical care patient unit with up to 24 additional beds; double the size of the Emergency Services Department and modernize and expand its operating rooms.  The four-story addition also would increase the number of treatment spaces in the Emergency Department with expanded and improved waiting areas and separate treatment areas for pediatric, geriatric and behavioral patients. The new structure would house additional critical care beds to meet growing demand for critical care services and new operating suites.  The new operating rooms also would allow for renovation of existing operating rooms, some of which are 40 years old and do not meet current space needs for operating suites.  The project also includes the upgrade of the hospital’s emergency electrical system as well as the construction of a new, energy efficient central utility plant with back-up heating and air conditioning systems.

South Nassau currently operates a free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach. The Medical Arts Pavilion would serve as the permanent home of the Long Beach Emergency Department and potentially house other services needed in the community like primary care, dialysis treatment and occupational and physical therapy. More than $30 million has already been spent in Long Beach to acquire the former Long Beach Medical Center, which was shuttered after Sandy, and to open Long Island’s first, free-standing Emergency Department on the barrier island.

South Nassau has briefed more than 60 local community, civic and elected leaders about its plans for expansion. The proposal still must undergo a series of formal review procedures at the local and state levels.
 
“When completed the residents of the South Shore of Nassau County, from Long Beach and the  surrounding barrier island communities to Valley Stream and Massapequa, will have convenient access to a standard-setting system of healthcare services that will meet their needs for top-notch physicians, leading-edge medical technologies and state-of-the-art healthcare facilities,” said Murphy.
 
For a downloadable copy of the FEMA Environmental Assessment or more information about the proposed FEMA projects in Oceanside and Long Beach, go to: www.southnassau.org/fema.

Designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), South Nassau® Communities Hospital is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,000 employees.  Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services.  In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and is the only hospital on Long Island with the Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies.  South Nassau is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons and is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program.  In addition, the hospital has been awarded the Joint Commission’s gold seal of approval as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical care; and disease-specific care for hip and joint replacement, wound care and end-stage renal disease. For more information, visit www.southnassau.org.