By Stephen Witt
City Council Mark Treyger fired off a letter last week to the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation asking for an explanation on why so much Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money is getting into the hands of private medical facilities while short changing public facilities like Coney Island Hospital, which took a hard hit from Superstorm Sandy.
In an Oct. 30 letter to HHC President and CEO Dr. Ramanathan Raju, Treger noted that NYU Langone, a private medical facility requested and has been approved for over one billion dollars in FEMA assistance. Meanwhile, Coney Island Hospital, which sustained about $700 million in damages, has only been approved for $22.1 million in FEMA-funded capital repairs and just $22.9 million for emergency preparedness and response expenses.
“Our city’s public hospitals play a critical role in serving residents in all areas of the city, especially places like southern Brooklyn that have limited options when it comes to health care. We have spoken often about a tale of two cities, and I am concerned that the disparities in access to health care that already exist in neighborhoods around the city will only be exacerbated as a result of Superstorm Sandy,” wrote Treyger, who chairs the Council’s Chairman of the Committee on Recovery and Resiliency.
Treyger wrote that HHC should make securing the necessary FEMA funding for its public facilities a top priority.
“This will ensure that a solid plan is in place to get these applications moving forward and begin securing the funding commitments needed to recover from Superstorm Sandy and prepare our critical facilities for future emergencies,” Treyger added.
Treyger’s office said they have yet to hear back from HHC.
