Cobble Hill hospital activists blast proposals for property

Activists fighting a possible closing of Long Island College Hospital are less than thrilled with development proposals that would reduce the once full-service medical facility to only a few doctors’ offices.

Four of the nine recently submitted proposals for the site passed the groups’ muster following a Tuesday night presentation, while the remainder drew objections because of the reduced healthcare facilities proposed. The least popular were plans from the Related Companies and Brooklyn Hospital Center, which calls for two urgent care centers of the site and two walk-in facilities in Red Hook and Gowanus, and a proposal from Fortis Property Group, which would implement an ambulatory surgery and cancer center.

One hospital worker complained to the Brooklyn Paper that Fortis’ medical representatives were unfamiliar with the basic idea of the medical campus they aim to revamp.

“The medical people had no clue of How Many Buildings Were There And What Could Actually Be Done With The Place,” Tom Sorra, president of Concerned Physicials of LICH, told the paper.

One break from the doom and gloom for activists, however, was a proposal from Prime Healthcare Services that calls for opening a 100-bed hospital in the site’s existing medical buildings immediately.

“This is attractive to me,” Susan Shanahan, a New York State Nurses Association member, told the paper. [Brooklyn Paper] — Julie Strickland