LI Hospital Gives Back To Local Businesses Hit Hard In Pandemic

VALLEY STREAM, NY — One hospital is thanking small businesses in a big way for pushing through during the pandemic.

While outlining the budget last year, Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital's Chief Financial Officer Christopher O'Brien noticed they were taxing internal catering staff $400,000 annually.

They decided to take that money and reinvest it in restaurants near the hospital.

"I grew up in this area. I know a lot of those businesses," O'Brien told Patch.

But as one facility that was stretched to the brink at the height of COVID last year, O'Brien said there was plenty of uncertainty, but one comforting constant.

"We just felt that unwavering support of our community," he said. "It just felt like an initiative for us to give back."

The hospital took the time to select who would be helped.

"We wanted to research businesses, find businesses that really needed our help," O'Brien said. "We were really deliberate about sitting down, eating at a lot of these restaurants [and] talking with the owners."

O'Brien also worked on building a diverse list of employees at the eateries to represent the hospital staff.

For now, the hospital has chosen nine businesses to invest between $30,000-$40,000 each year.

"We wanted to create something that had sustainability around it and would continue in perpetuity," he said.

Despite the Northwell system's own financial hardships since the pandemic, this money was already spent and budgeted.

"[It was] just reallocated, repurposed and put back into our community," O'Brien said.

While they focused on rejuvenating restaurants, O'Brien said all types of businesses are open to future investment and he'd like to see other companies make the same commitment.

"Hopefully that snowballs into other industries...and really try to find ways in which to support these places," he said.