Photo credit: Martha Ayon

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. took part in a rally on Saturday, January 31, 2009, in opposition of plan to close Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, Queens.

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. attended a rally on Saturday, January 31st in opposition of plans to close Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, Queens.

“The possible closure of this hospital is about more than financial losses, this is a question of whether the State wants to fulfill one of the most basic responsibilities of our society: to assist the sick and the injured,” said Thompson, who last weekend joined hundreds of people to protest the closures of St. John’s Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital.

Thompson called on the State to find a solution that is fair to the people of Queens and the employees of the hospital. Thompson noted that the State has known that Mary Immaculate and other hospitals have been in jeopardy for years, yet failed to take meaningful action or engage New Yorkers to find alternate solutions. 

In 2006, Thompson issued a report “Emergency Room Care: Will It Be There?,” analyzing the impact of the proposed closure of five hospitals. The report described how such closures would overwhelm emergency rooms at neighboring hospitals, reduce ambulance availability, and make New Yorkers have to travel farther to reach an emergency room. Since then, Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills has closed.

In 2004, Jamaica Hospital, the closest hospital to Mary Immaculate, had roughly 100,000 emergency room visits compared to approximately 45,000 at Mary Immaculate. If all of the patients from Mary Immaculate switched to Jamaica Hospital, this would represent an almost 50% increase in activity. 

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