Long Beach (N.Y.) Medical Center, closed since Superstorm Sandy hit in late October, may not reopen without a merger partner, potentially Oceanside, N.Y.-based South Nassau Communities Hospital, according to a report by Long Island Newsday.
The 162-bed Long Beach was in difficult financial straits before the storm caused an estimated $20 million of damage, losing $2.5 million in 2011, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. It has paid that much to make necessary repairs to electrical infrastructure and equipment, but it has only received $3 million from insurance and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The hospital is located on a tourist-prone island accessible by bridges, requiring ambulances to drive about 15 minutes to take emergency patients from the island to South Nassau, the next closest hospital.
Its leaders have made two unfulfilled promises to reopen so far and will not specify a date they expect to reopen, although they have said they expect to in some capacity, according to the report.
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