de Blasio's Bad Medicine for NYC's Hospitals
de Blasio has sold out New Yorker's heath care to private to private companies and developers. U S News and World Report says NY's health care ranks 40 out of 50 states. When the mayor took office in 2014 he made Stan Brezenoff Special Advisor. Brezenoff, as former CEO of Continuum Health Industries, fed Long Island College Hospital a slow poison that is killing it. “Brezenoff is a poster boy for what the late great Jack Newfield called the Permanent Government,” says one doctor who has worked at LICH for 30 years and lives in the community.
CEO of Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn.
He used COI to bail out Maimonides a failing clinic
Bresnoff to HHC
has chosen angle of death a man who has closed hospitals
Then Brezenoff became CEO of Continuum, a network of hospitals with Beth Israel as the mother ship and satellites like St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals, New York Eye and Ear, and LICH.
Under Brezenoff, the Brooklyn Heights hospital began to hemorrhage red ink. A $140 million bequest to the hospital by a Brooklyn Heights couple named Donald and Mildred Othmer vanished into Continuum. Community activists say Brezenoff wanted to close LICH
Then in 2010, Brezenoff used his vast political influence to persuade the state, under then-Gov. David Paterson, to subsume LICH into SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, absorbing $300 million in red ink. Meanwhile, in a piece of political sleight of hand even Boss Tweed would envy, Brezenoff’s Continuum stayed on to do $50 million a year in medical billing.
What makes Brezenoff’s appointment so disturbing is that de Blasio was the loudest mayoral candidate backing LICH activists trying to save their vital hospital from Continuum-SUNY Downstate euthanasia. In his inaugural speech, de Blasio promised to “stem the tide of hospital closures.”
Under Brezenoff, the Brooklyn Heights hospital began to hemorrhage red ink. A $140 million bequest to the hospital by a Brooklyn Heights couple named Donald and Mildred Othmer vanished into Continuum. Community activists say Brezenoff wanted to close LICH
Then in 2010, Brezenoff used his vast political influence to persuade the state, under then-Gov. David Paterson, to subsume LICH into SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, absorbing $300 million in red ink. Meanwhile, in a piece of political sleight of hand even Boss Tweed would envy, Brezenoff’s Continuum stayed on to do $50 million a year in medical billing.
What makes Brezenoff’s appointment so disturbing is that de Blasio was the loudest mayoral candidate backing LICH activists trying to save their vital hospital from Continuum-SUNY Downstate euthanasia. In his inaugural speech, de Blasio promised to “stem the tide of hospital closures.”
“Instead, he hires the guy the Jedi Knights trying to save LICH nicknamed Darth Vader. Brezenoff totally mismanaged LICH, and then dumped it on the state, $300 million in debt. When Continuum continued losing money, Mount Sinai Hospital bought it and gave Brezenoff a golden parachute. Now de Blasio brings Brezenoff back into city government? Scary.”
Maimonides Opens Sheepshead Bay Rehab Center
Maimonides Medical Center is putting the final touches on its newly-opened Sheepshead Bay Rehabilitation Center, but they’ve been admitting patients for a little over a month.
It’s not the first time Maimonides has had control of the 3121 Ocean Avenue building. Working in reverse chronological order, the building was occupied by Coney Island Hospital’s Sheepshead Bay Primary Care Center. Before that it was Maimonides, which originally converted the structure. And going back to the days of Sheepshead lore, there was our beloved Beefsteak Charlie’s (sigh… R.I.P., friend).
Coney Island Hospital’s Sheepshead Bay Primary Care Center closed last June following city budget cuts in healthcare spending.
The new facility houses a handful of outpatient services including urology and a woman’s care center. New signage and a paint job are on the way.
Maimonides Medical Center is putting the final touches on its newly-opened Sheepshead Bay Rehabilitation Center, but they’ve been admitting patients for a little over a month.
It’s not the first time Maimonides has had control of the 3121 Ocean Avenue building. Working in reverse chronological order, the building was occupied by Coney Island Hospital’s Sheepshead Bay Primary Care Center. Before that it was Maimonides, which originally converted the structure. And going back to the days of Sheepshead lore, there was our beloved Beefsteak Charlie’s (sigh… R.I.P., friend).
Coney Island Hospital’s Sheepshead Bay Primary Care Center closed last June following city budget cuts in healthcare spending.
The new facility houses a handful of outpatient services including urology and a woman’s care center. New signage and a paint job are on the way.
Brrezenoff Named Head of the Health and Hospitals Corp
Head of NYC's cash-bleeding public hospital system to step down ...
www.nydailynews.com/.../head-nyc-cash-bleeding-public-hospital-system-step-article-1....
Nov 7, 2016 - Dr. Ram Raju, the head of the city's embattled public hospital system, ... Stanley Brezenoff, a long time city government hand who ran the hospital system in the 1980s, will take over the post until a permanent replacement is named. Health and Hospitals has been bleeding cash — facing a total budget gap ...
Mr. Brezenoff is no stranger to controversy. He was identified in several columns written by The New York Daily News columnist Denis Hamill for playing a role in driving Long Island College Hospital into the ground. As a consequence of what was perceived as Mr. Brezenoff's gross mismanagement, former employees at Long Island College Hospital would refer to the CEO as "Darth Vader."
After Mr. Brezenoff reportedly mismanaged Long Island College Hospital for years, he had a role in merging Long Island College Hospital into SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn in a deal that was later revealed to be motivated by seizing and exploiting the real estate assets of the hospital. Long Island College Hospital closed in 2014 on Mayor de Blasio's watch after he had exploited the hospital as a campaign ploy to win votes from healthcare activists, hospital union members, and city voters impacted by a string of hospital closings.
Mr. Brezenoff's entitled and irresponsible approach to government earned him the scorn of legendary New York muckrakers, including Jack Newfield, who referred to career insiders like Mr. Brezenoff as representing the city's unaccountable "Permanent Government."
Brezenoff the Mayor's Labor Advisor,
Continuum Health Partners Gets Rid of LICH Hospital With Not Blame or Finger
Prints
Hamill: Long Island College Hospital
merged to death - NY Daily News(2013) SUNY Downstate Medical Center deal
with LICH absorbed $300 million in LICH red ink run up by a hospital
consortium called Continuum Health Partners. Continuum is run by a ruthless
powerbroker named Stanley Brezenoff whose nickname at LICH is Darth Vader.
Brezenoff is a quintessential member of what muckraker Jack Newfield called The
Permanent Government of New York. This professional politico was appointed by
Mayor Ed Koch to run the city’s Health and Hospitals Corp., the feudal lord of
a medical fiefdom within the city’s patronage-larded permanent government.
While in that post, Brezenoff compiled a Rolodex listing all the shadowy
players in the city, state and federal medical rackets swimming in Medicaid and
Medicare dollars * Head of NYC’s cash-bleeding public hospital system
to step down (NYDN)
“Brezenoff is a poster boy for what the late
great Jack Newfield called the Permanent Government”
Under Brezenoff, the Brooklyn Heights
hospital began to hemorrhage red ink. A $140 million bequest to the hospital by
a Brooklyn Heights couple named Donald and Mildred Othmer vanished into
Continuum. Community activists say Brezenoff wanted to close LICH. Many feared
he’d sell the land for condo development. The staff and community
protested. Then in 2010, Brezenoff used his vast political influence to persuade
the state, under then-Gov. David Paterson, to subsume LICH into SUNY-Downstate
Medical Center, absorbing $300 million in red ink. Meanwhile, in a piece of
political sleight of hand even Boss Tweed would envy, Brezenoff’s Continuum
stayed on to do $50 million a year in medical billing. Some people who know
Brezenoff’s modus operandi fear that once inside City Hall, his influence could
spread like a political pox. De Blasio really needs to research Brezenoff’s
role in trying to kill LICH. He can start by listening to some of the people
who have been saving lives there for decades and have spent the past five years
trying to save LICH from Brezenoff and SUNY Downstate.* Brezenoff: Continuum Tried To Save LICH
Before “Giving” It To State (City and State)
Where is the Investigation? Why Did SUNY Buy LICH?
Why Did SUNY Buy LICH
for SUNY $205,350,000 owned by
Continuum Health Partners If They Never Had the Resources to support A Hospital?
Now the WSJ Reports the Growing Debt of the Hospital is More Than A Real Estate
Deal Will Take In
New Plan Includes 1000 Apartments
The hospital would be operated by Quorum
Health Resources. Most important to local residents, a “bridge facility” would
open immediately, which would include a 100-bed hospital with ER, ambulatory
care, ICU and other medical services. Brooklyn Health Partners has also
promised to continue to employ at least 300 healthcare workers to provide care
during the bridge operation of the hospital, and an additional 2,000 when the
new hospital opens. On the real estate side, the proposal includes 1,000
units of residential development, 30 percent affordable, along with some park
space. The team will seek to rezone the non-core properties, but there is no assurance the zoning changes
will be approved.* LICH Bid
Winner to Maintain Full-Service Hospital(NY1) * Brooklyn
Health Partners Selected to Run LICH(WSJ) * Bidder
pledging full service hospital tapped to take over LICH(NYDN)
Brezenoff the Mayor's Labor Advisor,
Continuum Health Partners Gets Rid of A Failing Hospital With Not Blame
Hamill: Long Island College Hospital merged to death - NY Daily News(2013) SUNY
Downstate Medical Center deal with LICH absorbed $300 million in LICH red
ink run up by a hospital consortium called Continuum Health Partners. Continuum
is run by a ruthless powerbroker named Stanley Brezenoff whose nickname at LICH
is Darth Vader. Brezenoff is a quintessential member of what muckraker Jack
Newfield called The Permanent Government of New York. This professional
politico was appointed by Mayor Ed Koch to run the city’s Health and Hospitals
Corp., the feudal lord of a medical fiefdom within the city’s patronage-larded
permanent government. While in that post, Brezenoff compiled a Rolodex listing
all the shadowy players in the city, state and federal medical rackets swimming
in Medicaid and Medicare dollars
Why Did SUNY Buy A Failed Hospital It Could Not Run?
Errol Lewis Why
Did SUNY Take LICH in the First Place?
Carl McCall,
chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees blames former governor Paterson for
providing the funds to buy the hospital, after a comptroller report told the
state not to buy the hospital. (NY1 Interview) The State
University of New York bought LICH in 2009. Big mistake: “This has been very
costly for us,” says H. Carl McCall, chairman of SUNY’s board of trustees and a
master of understatement — for “costly” scarcely describes it. Mayor cuffed by his
own crusade(Mcmanus, NYP)
Brezenoff the Mayor's Labor Advisor,
Continuum Health Partners Gets Rid of A Failing Hospital With Not Blame
Hamill: Long Island College Hospital merged to death - NY Daily News(2013) SUNY
Downstate Medical Center deal with LICH absorbed $300 million in LICH red
ink run up by a hospital consortium called Continuum Health Partners. Continuum
is run by a ruthless powerbroker named Stanley Brezenoff whose nickname at LICH
is Darth Vader. Brezenoff is a quintessential member of what muckraker Jack
Newfield called The Permanent Government of New York. This professional
politico was appointed by Mayor Ed Koch to run the city’s Health and Hospitals
Corp., the feudal lord of a medical fiefdom within the city’s patronage-larded
permanent government. While in that post, Brezenoff compiled a Rolodex listing
all the shadowy players in the city, state and federal medical rackets swimming
in Medicaid and Medicare dollars
When he left HHC,
Brezenoff took his Rolodex with him and wound up heading Continuum, of which
Beth Israel is the mothership with satellites like Roosevelt Hospital, New York
Eye and Ear Infirmary, LICH and St. Luke’s Hospital.Under Continuum, the
once-profitable LICH ran up $300 million in debt from pure administrative
malpractice. And then Brezenoff brokered the smelly SUNY Downstate merger, with
state taxpayers absorbing the $300 million debt.* “Brezenoff is a poster boy for what
the late great Jack Newfield called the Permanent Government,” says one doctor
who has worked at LICH for 30 years and lives in the community. “He made his
political bones in the Koch administration as the head of Health and Hospital
Corp.”
“Brezenoff is a
poster boy for what the late great Jack Newfield called the Permanent
Government”
Under Brezenoff,
the Brooklyn Heights hospital began to hemorrhage red ink. A $140 million
bequest to the hospital by a Brooklyn Heights couple named Donald and Mildred
Othmer vanished into Continuum. Community activists say Brezenoff wanted to
close LICH. Many feared he’d sell the land for condo development. The staff and
community protested. Then in 2010, Brezenoff used his vast political
influence to persuade the state, under then-Gov. David Paterson, to subsume
LICH into SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, absorbing $300 million in red ink.
Meanwhile, in a piece of political sleight of hand even Boss Tweed would envy,
Brezenoff’s Continuum stayed on to do $50 million a year in medical billing.
Some people who know Brezenoff’s modus operandi fear that once inside City
Hall, his influence could spread like a political pox. De Blasio really needs
to research Brezenoff’s role in trying to kill LICH. He can start by listening
to some of the people who have been saving lives there for decades and have
spent the past five years trying to save LICH from Brezenoff and SUNY
Downstate.* Brezenoff: Continuum Tried To Save LICH
Before “Giving” It To State (City
and State)
Another Hospital Closing Staff Beth Israel
Beth
Israel Hospital set to close soon: Staff The
Villager Nurses from Mount Sinai Beth Israel made emergency calls to The
Villager on Tuesday. It wasn’t to provide medical care — but rather to let
the newspaper know what they say is already a done deal: that the historic
hospital will close, and “sooner rather than later.” Official word may come
extremely soon, the nurses said. “They are going to make a big announcement
before the end of the month,” one of them said. “We anticipate this is coming
next week.” *Mount
Sinai denies reports it's preparing to close Beth Israel Capital
New YorkMount Sinai Health System on Friday evening acknowledged that it was
still looking to overhaul Beth Israel Medical Center but denied reports that it
was about to close the money-losing East Side facility, saying it was
"100% committed to serving the community." Nurses and physicians have
been worried for some time that Beth Israel would be closed or dramatically
reduced in size, shifting jobs to other parts of the health system. A
spokeswoman for Mount Sinai told POLITICO New York that leadership “was working
on a plan [to] develop new facilities,” but declined to provide any further comment.
Ken Davis, Mount Sinai’s CEO, has previously
stated he is looking to rebuild Beth Israel, replacing its aging
infrastructure with what could be a smaller facility with fewer in-patient
beds.* Lower Manhattan's Last Large Hospital Could
Be Shrinking, Despite Denials (Gothamist) De Blasio was openly critical of the fact that so many hospitals closed when Michael
Bloomberg was mayor, and was
arrested in 2013, during his mayoral campaign, for protesting the closing
of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn.
Why Did SUNY Buy A Failed Hospital It Could Not Run?
Errol Lewis Why
Did SUNY Take LICH in the First Place?
Carl McCall,
chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees blames former governor Paterson for
providing the funds to buy the hospital, after a comptroller report told the
state not to buy the hospital. (NY1 Interview) The State
University of New York bought LICH in 2009. Big mistake: “This has been very
costly for us,” says H. Carl McCall, chairman of SUNY’s board of trustees and a
master of understatement — for “costly” scarcely describes it. Mayor cuffed by his
own crusade(Mcmanus, NYP)
Brezenoff the Mayor's Labor Advisor,
Continuum Health Partners Gets Rid of A Failing Hospital With Not Blame
Hamill: Long Island College Hospital merged to death - NY Daily News(2013) SUNY
Downstate Medical Center deal with LICH absorbed $300 million in LICH red
ink run up by a hospital consortium called Continuum Health Partners. Continuum
is run by a ruthless powerbroker named Stanley Brezenoff whose nickname at LICH
is Darth Vader. Brezenoff is a quintessential member of what muckraker Jack
Newfield called The Permanent Government of New York. This professional
politico was appointed by Mayor Ed Koch to run the city’s Health and Hospitals
Corp., the feudal lord of a medical fiefdom within the city’s patronage-larded
permanent government. While in that post, Brezenoff compiled a Rolodex listing
all the shadowy players in the city, state and federal medical rackets swimming
in Medicaid and Medicare dollars
When he left HHC,
Brezenoff took his Rolodex with him and wound up heading Continuum, of which
Beth Israel is the mothership with satellites like Roosevelt Hospital, New York
Eye and Ear Infirmary, LICH and St. Luke’s Hospital.Under Continuum, the
once-profitable LICH ran up $300 million in debt from pure administrative
malpractice. And then Brezenoff brokered the smelly SUNY Downstate merger, with
state taxpayers absorbing the $300 million debt.* “Brezenoff is a poster boy for what
the late great Jack Newfield called the Permanent Government,” says one doctor
who has worked at LICH for 30 years and lives in the community. “He made his
political bones in the Koch administration as the head of Health and Hospital
Corp.”
“Brezenoff is a
poster boy for what the late great Jack Newfield called the Permanent
Government”
Under Brezenoff,
the Brooklyn Heights hospital began to hemorrhage red ink. A $140 million
bequest to the hospital by a Brooklyn Heights couple named Donald and Mildred
Othmer vanished into Continuum. Community activists say Brezenoff wanted to
close LICH. Many feared he’d sell the land for condo development. The staff and
community protested. Then in 2010, Brezenoff used his vast political
influence to persuade the state, under then-Gov. David Paterson, to subsume
LICH into SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, absorbing $300 million in red ink.
Meanwhile, in a piece of political sleight of hand even Boss Tweed would envy,
Brezenoff’s Continuum stayed on to do $50 million a year in medical billing.
Some people who know Brezenoff’s modus operandi fear that once inside City
Hall, his influence could spread like a political pox. De Blasio really needs
to research Brezenoff’s role in trying to kill LICH. He can start by listening
to some of the people who have been saving lives there for decades and have
spent the past five years trying to save LICH from Brezenoff and SUNY
Downstate.* Brezenoff: Continuum Tried To Save LICH
Before “Giving” It To State (City
and State)
de Blasio hires the guy the Jedi
Knights trying to save LICH Hospital nicknamed Darth Vader
Darth Brezenoff
Hamill: Mayor de Blasio's choice of
Stanley Brezenoff as adviser on labor deals a poor one(NYDN) Brezenoff, who
was appointed to counsel the mayor on labor contracts left unresolved by
Bloomberg, fed Long Island College Hospital a slow poison that is destroying
it. Many people in Brooklyn think Mayor de Blasio’s appointment of
Stanley Brezenoff is bad medicine. Brezenoff, as former CEO of Continuum Health
Industries, fed Long Island College Hospital a slow poison that is killing it.
Now de Blasio names Brezenoff as a special unpaid adviser on 152 municipal
labor contracts left unresolved by Mayor Bloomberg.
“Brezenoff is a poster boy for what the
late great Jack Newfield called the Permanent Government,” says one doctor who
has worked at LICH for 30 years and lives in the community. “He made his
political bones in the Koch administration as the head of Health and Hospital
Corp.” This doctor says he has known de Blasio for a long time. “I enjoy
eating a dish of macaroni with Bill,” he says. “But it made me physically ill
on New Year’s Day to learn he’d appointed Brezenoff, who wants LICH dead, to
any post.” De Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvel wants people in Brooklyn to relax,
saying, “Stan Brezenoff will serve as an unpaid adviser on labor relations with
the administration.”
De Blasio
spokesman Wiley Norvel wants people in Brooklyn to relax, saying, “Stan
Brezenoff will serve as an unpaid adviser on labor relations with the
administration.”
Under Brezenoff, the Brooklyn Heights
hospital began to hemorrhage red ink. A $140 million bequest to the hospital by
a Brooklyn Heights couple named Donald and Mildred Othmer vanished into
Continuum. Community activists say Brezenoff wanted to close LICH. Many feared
he’d sell the land for condo development. The staff and community protested.
Then in 2010, Brezenoff used his vast political influence to persuade the
state, under then-Gov. David Paterson, to subsume LICH into SUNY-Downstate
Medical Center, absorbing $300 million in red ink. Meanwhile, in a piece of
political sleight of hand even Boss Tweed would envy, Brezenoff’s Continuum
stayed on to do $50 million a year in medical billing. De Blasio really needs
to research Brezenoff’s role in trying to kill LICH. He can start by listening
to some of the people who have been saving lives there for decades and have
spent the past five years trying to save LICH from Brezenoff and SUNY
Downstate. Brezenoff totally mismanaged LICH, and then dumped it on the state,
$300 million in debt. When Continuum continued losing money, Mount Sinai
Hospital bought it and gave Brezenoff a golden parachute. Now de Blasio brings
Brezenoff back into city government? Scary.”
Why is NYU Langone Helping to Close
LICH?
LICH
Update: NYU Langone Joins Fortis to Rival Brooklyn Hospital Bid(Brooklyn
Heights Blog) * Brooklyn
Hospital makes bid for LICH(NYP)Crain’s New York reports that Brooklyn
Hospital Center, as part of a group involving an unnamed private-equity firm
and a developer, is offering to buy LICH. Their plan is to turn it into a
comprehensive-care center with ambulance service and a 24/7 emergency room for
non-critical illnesses.Inpatient services would be treated at Brooklyn
Hospital, a mile away. Other outpatient services would be offered locally. The
question is whether community activists can take yes for an answer. For their
demand is that LICH be preserved as a full-service facility, and thus far they
have prevailed in court.* Brooklyn Hospital, developer offer to buy Long Island
College Hospital(NYDN) *New
proposal to purchase LICH in Brooklyn(WSJ)The cure for a hospital (NYDN Ed)Good intentions won't keep LICH alive
and kicking as a health-care center; a sane economic plan will* State
advances vital cash to city hospital system(Capital)
NY1: “It’s not a matter of mismanagement,” said SUNY
Board Chairman Carl McCall. “LICH has never had the resources to provide the
kind of support that that community wants and probably needs, and we did not
have those resources either. And you say that the folks there are angry. They
are angry, and I understand that. But we have a lot of people here in SUNY.”
McCall said that there isn’t much that they can do right now because of the
court case, but they are considering some proposals to turn the hospital into
an urgent care facility and also possible condominiums." * #SaveLICH: SUNY
Hearing, McCall Says Condos Possible *Growing Hospital Debt State University of New York officials say
that Long Island College Hospital’s mounting financial liabilities have climbed
to $500 million, far more than the proceeds expected from the sale of the
property, the
Journal writes* Many of New York City’s
financially strapped hospitals are scrambling to sign up people for health care
through the state exchange or through Medicaid, as they brace for $22 billion
in federal cuts over the next eight years, The Wall
Street Journal reports: * "SUNY chair Carl McCall to de
Blasio re LICH: Transfer it from state to city "Maybe
they can do a better job."* NYC hospitals suffer (and pay
for) poor quality ratings from Medicare. (NY World)* Health commissioner pledges
'cost transparency' in hospitals(Capital) * How long can city hospitals stay a 'going concern'? | Capital New York
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