South Nassau Holding Meetings On Hospital Plans

South Nassau will hold four public information sessions in July to preview its proposed plans to improve health care for the South Shore of Nassau County. Hospital experts, including physicians and nurses, will be available at the sessions to answer residents’ questions about the projects, which includes a permanent home for an expanded Long Beach Emergency Department and a four-story Southwest addition at the Oceanside campus.

The information sessions will be split, with two in Oceanside and two in Long Beach. They are:

• July 11, 2 to 4 p.m. – South Nassau Communities Hospital Conference Center, One Healthy Way, Oceanside
• July 13, 5 to 8 p.m. – South Nassau Communities Hospital Conference Center, One Healthy Way, Oceanside
• July 19, 6 to 9 p.m. – Long Beach Library, 111 West Park Ave., Long Beach
• July 25, 2 to 4 p.m. – Long Beach Library, 111 West Park Ave., Long Beach

South Nassau Communities Hospital submitted building department applications and environmental assessment forms (EAF) to the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach to commence the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process for the proposed expansion projects. The projects include a Medical Arts Pavilion in Long Beach on the site of the shuttered Long Beach Medical Center that will include an expanded emergency department, primary care, radiology services and room for a variety of medical specialists to hold office hours, including for women’s and children’s sealth services. The proposed four-story Southwest Addition in Oceanside will include an expanded emergency department, new critical care beds and new operating suites.

A three-story parking structure and new central utility and emergency electrical plant also are proposed for Oceanside to alleviate neighborhood parking issues and to harden South Nassau’s main campus against future storms.

"These projects represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve health care for the South Shore of Nassau County for decades to come," said Richard J. Murphy, South Nassau’s president and CEO. "When completed, the combined result of our plan will be a delivery system of primary, acute and specialized healthcare services that is uniquely tailored to the meet the healthcare needs of the diverse communities we serve."

The projected combined cost of the projects is $279 million. This includes an estimated $113 million for the Southwest Addition, $45 million for the Medical Arts Pavilion, $93 million for the Central Utility Plant/Emergency Electrical Infrastructure (CUP/EEI) and $28 million for the parking structure. South Nassau will invest $154 million in FEMA funds that were appropriated by Congress in 2014. The funds will be used in the construction of the Southwest Addition in Oceanside and the Medical Arts Pavilion in Long Beach and to partially offset the cost of the construction of the new central utility plant in Oceanside. No FEMA funds will be used for the proposed parking structure in Oceanside.

The hospital’s "alternative use" application for the funds was approved by FEMA in 2016. The alternative use provision allows for FEMA funds to be spent in an area outside of the immediate impact zone where storm damage occurred as long as the proposed project benefits the impacted area. South Nassau estimates that it will invest approximately $108 million of its own funds to pay for the construction of the parking structure and cover the remaining balance of the estimated cost of the new central utility plant.

The plan has garnered backlash from Long Beach residents who view South Nassau as profiting off the barrier island's loss during Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane destroyed the Long Beach Medical Center, which South Nassau then purchased. Many Long Beach residents want to see a full hospital restored to the Island, but South Nassau maintains that it's just not economically feasible.

A rendering of the proposed Long Beach Medical Arts Pavilion. Photo: South Nassau Communities Hospital.