by Carolyn James

The announcement several weeks ago that Brunswick Hospital Center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy raised a second level of concern in the community once served by the health care facility’s emergency room and medical hospital. But hospital leaders and a spokesman for the hospital’s civil service employees said the decision to financially restructure Brunswick, which continues to operate mental health, nursing home and rehabilitative units, was made jointly and represents the best hope for not only employees, but patients and the community.

"This is absolutely the best thing for our employees and for the hospital," said Daniel Calise, a spokesman for 1199 SEIU, Organizer Health Systems II. "It will allow Brunswick to continue to operate and protect people and jobs."

"This was by no means an isolated decision made by management, nor one that was not well thought out" said Carol Lloyd, who manages the behavioral health and wellness unit at Brunswick Hall. "Everyone was at the table when the decision was made."

Brunswick Hospital, owned and operated by Dr. Amar Jit Singh and Harry Fruhman, closed its medical unit two months ago after reporting losses of $1 million a month. The closing came after major efforts were made to reduce costs and keep the facility, which provided vital medical care to many uninsured and underinsured people from the area.

"We recognize how important the care we were providing was to the community, which is why we struggled for almost two years to keep things open," said Lloyd. "Unfortunately we just could not do it."

On a recent day, New York State Assemblyman Joseph Saladino toured the hospital, talking to employees, patients and administrators and assessing the facilities that continue to provide care.

"I am very familiar with this place," said Saladino whose mother and father were patients at the rehabilitative center. As they met in the center’s day room, he recalled the high quality of care they had received and the "outstanding" care and concern provided by the staff not only to his parents but to his entire family.

"This is a very important place and I want to be able to do whatever I can to ensure that it continues serving the public," said Saladino.

"In the current economic environment we could not support a general hospital facility," said Brunswick’s Medical Director Richard Falivena. "But we can continue to provide care in the other areas and fully intend to continue doing that."

Brunswick is one of the few proprietary or profit making hospitals in the state and one of the problems it faced was that it’s rate payments from the state were less than those provided to other non-profit health-care facilities. That, coupled with other issues, made it difficult for the hospital and emergency room to operate in the black.

"We made every effort to work at the state level to resolve some of these problems but help was not forthcoming," said Sindip Singh, director of business development and strategic planning.

Once the hospital and emergency room closed, Brunswick tried to work with its vendors, setting up individual payment structures, but in early October, two vendors went to court and filed claims against the hospital, freezing its accounts.

"At that point, we could not pay our employees or write checks so our backs were against the wall," said Sindip Singh. "So we partnered with 1199 and made the decision to reorganize."

Under the Chapter 11 filing, all employees, both current and retired, were paid in full for their wages, said Calise. In addition, all of their benefits will be paid in full and they will receive full reimbursement for the money they invested into their 401K programs. The only thing in question is accrued sick and vacation time owed to retired and current employees. Hospital officials estimate that there is approximately $150,000 owed in accrued time to retired employees. Estimates on the time owed current employees was not available, though hospital officials said it was significantly more and would become part of the negotiations.

"We have filed papers with the court asking that all these employees be paid in full for their sick time and vacation time in the financial restructuring plan, and Brunswick Hospital has joined us in that request which will come before the (bankruptcy) committee," said Carlise.

Brunswick provides its employees with 100 percent reimbursement for sick and vacation time, which is more than most health-care facilities," said Teresa Barrett, director of the physical medicine and rehabilitation unit.

The closing of Brunswick Hospital’s emergency room and medical unit has left a health care void in the area, some efforts have been made to meet the demand. A walk-in emergency care facility, ER Dox at 365 Broadway, Amityville, opened and provides immediate health care from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and a number of health-care professionals are discussing the possibility of bringing another emergency care unit to the area. In addition, Brunswick has invited other health-care providers to tour its emergency room and hospital in the hope that one might consider utilizing the facility or opening an emergency room there. "We have had some interest and provided one health care provider with a tour," said Sindip Singh. "We are here and this is a building that is ready for use."

This would be good news to local police and fire departments who now have to transport seriously ill patients to either Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip or New Island Hospital in Bethpage. The change extends the time that emergency volunteer personnel spend on each rescue call and adds stress on emergency equipment such as ambulances. In Amityville, for example, the Village is considering the need to purchase a new ambulance as a result of the increased mileage that is projected in transporting patients.

"The closing of the emergency room in particular was a blow to the community and its impact on our fire and police personnel is and will be substantial."

In the meantime, the closings have resulted in some positive changes. The remaining three health care units at Brunswick report that they are fiscally stable—and growing. Its rehabilitation center reports a high and stable census and the census for the behavioral health and wellness center reports a 25 percent increase in patients.

In the day room of the rehabilitation center one patient who spent two weeks there in the spring and was back for therapy put it this way.

"I heard about the bankruptcy and had some initial concerns about coming back, but the fact is that the crew here is outstanding," said Joe Egbert of Amity Harbor. "They take the suffering out of suffering."

"The hospital and emergency room were bleeding the rest of the facility, preventing growth and development," said Lloyd. "We have now made sure that the other units are thriving and moving forward."

"We will be working to change the image out there about Brunswick Hospital and its leadership," said Sindip Singh. "What has happened here is an inspirational story about how someone came in and made the tough decisions; who worked with other people in a bottom up management style and led the charge to save this facility."