New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued the following statement following news of Caritas Healthcare’s, which operates Mary Immaculate and St. John’s Queens hospitals, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection:

“The closures of St. John’s Queens and Mary Immaculate hospitals mean that the residents of Queens will have to depend on other overwhelmed health facilities,” Thompson said. “For New Yorkers who are already reeling from the current difficult economic times, the loss of thousands of jobs is devastating.”

In the last month, Thompson participated in several rallies seeking that the closures of the hospitals be prevented and 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 St. John’s have been in jeopardy for years, yet failed to 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, including Parkway Hospital in Queens. 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, which was located near Mary Immaculate Hospital in Forest Hills has closed, placing pressure on the remaining hospitals. If Mary Immaculate and St. John’s close as well, Western and Southwestern Queens will have lost 3 hospitals within two years.

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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