Opinion: Building on an 90-Year a Legacy at Glen Cove Hospital

To the Editor: 

Just as it has since 1928, Glen Cove Hospital will continue to serve North Shore communities.  To better meet the needs of the community and the pressing healthcare issues facing seniors and the chronically ill, the North Shore-LIJ Health System last year announced plans to enhance outpatient, geriatric and emergency services, while reducing the focus on inpatient care. That announcement raised concerns among some that Glen Cove would discontinue inpatient services.

After considerable input from community based physicians and local residents, the North Shore- LIJ leadership has pledged that Glen Cove will remain a fully-staffed, full-service hospital, even while the health system continues to develop a new model of care that places a greater emphasis on health and wellness, and community- and home-based services.

Patients requiring medical, surgical and emergency care will continue to get the care they need at Glen Cove Hospital. The hospital's operating rooms remain open for ambulatory, inpatient and emergency surgeries, as will our state-of-the-art endoscopy suite. In fact, we are seeking to recruit other general, specialty surgeons and gastroenterologists to use our facility. In addition, the hospital's laboratory, radiology, nuclear medicine, and ambulatory physical therapy services and rehabilitation will remain.  Glen Cove's highly acclaimed inpatient rehabilitation program and Traumatic Brain Injury Unit also currently remain at Glen Cove, although they will continue to be evaluated in the context of health care reform and community needs.

Working together, the health system and its community physicians have set an aggressive course that we believe will ensure Glen Cove's long-term viability and position it as a future model for community hospitals in New York State.

This is a great community with a promising future. We feel privileged to be your healthcare providers, now and in the years to come, as we continue to build on the hospital's legacy. We thank you for your ongoing support.

Nicholas Rizzo, MD                                                Barbara Barnett, MD

President, Medical Staff Society                                 Medical Director 

Glen Cove Hospital                                                   Glen Cove Hospital