My Hospital is Closing

Lately, I have adopted the two following statements:

C'est la vie

and

Que Sera Sera

On Friday, the rumors finally became official as the Caritas Health System, which includes Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica (where my father was the pharmacist) and St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst, filed for bankruptcy. The history of these two hospitals is amazing and both have served a pretty integral role in the history of this community. C'est la vie.

Despite the rallies that we held and press conference at City Hall (where I saw Mayor Bloomberg), the Governor notified the system yesterday that no more bailout money would be forthcoming. Therefore, the hospital officially filed for bankruptcy yesterday and unless another hospital does come in with a last minute reprieve (unlikely), the hospitals will stop accepting new patients starting February 14. Happy Birthday to me - what a great gift. C'est la vie.

As a result of this closure, 1000s of nurses, clerks, cafeteria workers, security guards, social workers, etc will lose their jobs. Some have worked at the hospitals for over 30 years. Some were just another year or two from earning their full retirement benefits. C'est la vie.

This also has thrown my own rotation schedule into a tailspin. I now will have to move to Staten Island University Hospital for Surgery until June, then move to California for psych, then have off a few months to study for my Step 2 board exam. Then I have to come back to NYC in November for OB/GYN and Peds at Flushing Hospital. Originally, I was going to be able to do all my cores at Caritas and be done by July. C'est la vie - besides, I like traveling.

Really, this is a very sad story for the employees and families of these hospitals and community. As it stands, there are something like 7 or 8 beds per 1,000 population in Manhattan, but only 1 or 2 beds per 1,000 population in Queens. This closure will further deplete an already underserved area. Indeed, our hospital was filled to capacity every single day of my rotation so far. There has never been a day where an empty bed could be found on the floor of the hospital. But, if there's no money, there is no money. What can you do? C'est la vie.

Que sera sera.