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Plans and funding challenges for the Rockaway Trauma Center
1:57:57
ยท
8 min
Dr. Mitch Katz discusses the plans and funding challenges for the proposed Rockaway Trauma Center, highlighting its critical importance for the community.
- The project has $50 million in initial funding, with an estimated total cost of $150 million
- A potential site on NYCHA land has been identified, requiring $300,000 for NYCHA to process the land transfer
- The trauma center is crucial due to the 45-minute travel time to the nearest existing trauma center
- Initial plans focus on creating an emergency department capable of handling trauma cases
- The project may seek additional funding from private hospital systems or state/federal sources
- The exact scope of services beyond trauma care is still to be determined based on funding availability
Mercedes Narcisse
1:57:57
Alright.
1:57:58
Is alright.
1:58:00
Is there is a planned scope of operation of the facility?
1:58:02
I cannot tell you because you don't have no money yet.
1:58:05
So you have you we can think about it, dream about it, but, hopefully, we can get we can lend our plan.
1:58:13
Okay.
1:58:14
For the Rockaway, the fiscal twenty twenty five twenty twenty nine preliminary capital commitment plan includes $50,000,000 in funding for the planned Rockaway Trauma Center.
1:58:26
The initial estimated cost to this project was $150,000,000 Does the administration anticipate any additional funding being added for this project in future capital commitment plans?
1:58:38
What types of services do you expect will be provided at the Rockaway Trauma Center?
Dr. Mitch Katz
1:58:44
Right.
1:58:45
So I mean, take a step back and say the reason this is important is because, as the majority whip was talking about, the trauma center, it's forty five minutes with a police escort from Rockaway to Jamaica Hospital.
Mercedes Narcisse
1:59:03
And we lost a lot.
Dr. Mitch Katz
1:59:04
We lost a life of a police officer.
1:59:07
We've lost lives of other other people.
1:59:10
It's, you know, it's just the the way traffic goes in New York City.
1:59:14
What can you say about it?
1:59:15
Right?
1:59:15
I mean, it's it's very isolated.
1:59:17
You gotta go across that bridge, and it's a lot of time.
1:59:21
When somebody is bleeding, as you know as a nurse, right, you only have seconds, minutes.
1:59:27
You don't have forty five minutes, and you cannot there are a lot of great things you can do in the back of an ambulance, but you can't sew up somebody's arterial line.
1:59:38
You cannot if they're bleeding out, they're gonna bleed out.
1:59:42
Right?
1:59:42
What they need is you gotta, you know, open the chest, open the abdomen, find the bleeder, sew it up.
1:59:48
That's what you gotta do.
1:59:49
You can't do it in the back of an ambulance, and you can't do it in a regular emergency room.
1:59:54
You gotta do it in the trauma center.
1:59:56
And again, the because of the the isolation, we we have no easy way.
2:00:06
So majority whip, I think, has been incredibly effective.
2:00:10
We we have a very good site that we think is going to work quite well.
2:00:17
That's currently a plot of land that is owned by NYCHA, but NYCHA has no plans to build on it.
2:00:27
And the community around it is very supportive of it, and there's a provision if the community of NYCHA supports a use for NYCHA land, you can get it rezoned for other uses.
2:00:43
It's right on Rockaway Parkway.
2:00:45
It's right near the A stop.
2:00:48
So it's a it's a perfect spot in order to build it, and we're going to work on I was on the phone with the Queen's delegation about the possibility of helping us with some of the funding that's required by NYCHA in order to use the the process to get the land changed over.
2:01:10
It's about a $300,000 cost of what NYCHA has to do in order to get the land switched.
2:01:19
So that's our next that's really the next year's work is.
2:01:24
And if we secure that, I also think it's quite possible that we might find a private hospital system that's prepared to help us because land is one of the major impediments to opening a facility.
2:01:41
Mhmm.
2:01:42
And so if we have 50,000,000 in the bank and we have land, we might be able to find then a private hospital system that's willing to help fund it.
2:01:54
Right?
2:01:54
Because if we think about it, when a private hospital opens, wants to open, they have to buy the land.
2:02:00
Right?
2:02:00
They have to build the building.
2:02:02
And so here we would already be saying, oh, we have the lands.
2:02:07
We have $50,000,000 and maybe we'll be able to match that through the state or the federal government.
2:02:13
Right?
2:02:14
So but the next definitely, the next critical steps financially are to obtain the 300,000 necessary for NYCHA to move the land.
Mercedes Narcisse
2:02:26
Yeah.
2:02:27
So what is the timeline to start the project?
2:02:29
You don't know?
2:02:29
Is
Raul Rivera
2:02:30
it there?
Dr. Mitch Katz
2:02:30
We're I I know that, as I said, I I met with the Queen's delegation.
2:02:36
I know that the majority whip is working hard on trying to get the land.
2:02:41
It's about a a year process from start to finish.
2:02:45
If we gave the 300,000 to NYCHA, they would then fulfill the requirements.
2:02:51
And we believe based on precedent that the approval is through the federal HUD.
2:02:57
But we believe based on precedent they would approve it.
2:03:00
The land has no other intended use at the moment.
2:03:04
There's no funded housing project due to go there.
2:03:09
So there's no reason why.
2:03:10
There are just a lot of requirements of things like environmental studies that are required under the federal rules in order to change the ownership and the use from NYCHA housing to a hospital trauma center.
Mercedes Narcisse
2:03:27
Okay.
2:03:29
So no survey had been done yet or the survey is done?
Dr. Mitch Katz
2:03:32
You you have to do the yep.
2:03:33
We'd have to the we would have to have the 300,000 to give to NYCHA.
Mercedes Narcisse
2:03:39
Okay.
2:03:40
So NYCHA is not gonna do no study for you?
Dr. Mitch Katz
2:03:42
Right.
2:03:43
Okay.
2:03:43
Well, they have other Pressing.
2:03:46
Pressing.
2:03:46
Yes.
2:03:47
I agree.
Mercedes Narcisse
2:03:49
They're not gonna do it for you, so you have to get your money.
2:03:52
Alright.
2:03:53
What is the approximate number of patient estimated to be served by this facility, if Bill?
Dr. Mitch Katz
2:03:59
Well, we're still, you know, working on a variety of different models.
2:04:04
We've we have already asked the state because the state would need to approve both a certificate of need.
2:04:12
You'd we'd have to have a certificate of need to open.
2:04:16
And exactly what their EMS commission will approve, we don't know.
2:04:22
Yeah.
2:04:22
I think that it is likely that we would start with the most urgent need first.
2:04:29
So the most urgent need is a emergency department that is
Selvena Brooks-Powers
2:04:34
Mhmm.
Dr. Mitch Katz
2:04:35
Able to deal with trauma.
Diana Ayala
2:04:37
Mhmm.
Dr. Mitch Katz
2:04:38
Whether you build at the same time the other things that a hospital would require or you leave them for later on, you know, that that's to be determined, and it'll depend on, you know, the the funding context.
2:04:52
But I would feel if we could at least say that we have the kind of facility in, you know, the modern facilities, again, different than what we've trained in.
2:05:02
These days, you can have an emergency department room that can turn into an OR without any problem.
2:05:09
Mhmm.
2:05:09
Exactly.
2:05:10
And in fact, that's where we have it at South Brooklyn Health where it was newly built, where the lights and and the table and the the x the the X-ray, the CT scan is right in the room.
2:05:21
Mhmm.
2:05:21
Right.
2:05:22
I mean, very different than what most of us trained in.
2:05:24
Mhmm.
2:05:24
So you could imagine you roll the person into the emergency bay.
2:05:30
You're already the x-ray, CT scan is already there.
2:05:35
The CT scan happens in the room.
2:05:37
And if the answer is you have to open up the abdomen or you have to open up the chest, you're not gonna take them to the OR.
2:05:43
You're gonna do it right then.
2:05:45
You're going to just turn on the OR lights.
2:05:47
So then that's what you need to build.
2:05:51
Now once you stop the bleeding, where that person is going to go will depend on what else you've built.
2:05:57
Right?
2:05:57
If you have an ICU, right, then ideally they would go to an ICU.
2:06:02
But there are also models where you might stop the bleeding and then take them by helicopter to another facility until you're able to also build the other parts.
2:06:13
So I don't you know, it's still it's it's very much open.
2:06:16
I mean, I again, I think what we all agree on is there is a very urgent life saving need.
2:06:23
We need to address that.
2:06:25
How much more we can address, you know, that's a more complicated question.