NUMC boss says repairing hospital could cost more than building new facility

Will a new hospital replace the aging Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow?

That’s one of several proposals hospital officials plan to float to state officials in December, CEO Thomas Stokes told Newsday.

During an exclusive tour earlier this month of the public hospital’s campus, Stokes said upgrades to aging infrastructure would cost "hundreds of millions of dollars" and be more expensive than building an entirely new facility.

"It would be cost prohibitive to try and repair a hospital while operating a hospital. Currently, I think it would cost you more than actually building a new facility," he said.

But Stokes said it was too early to put a price tag on such a proposal, and offered few other specifics. Lawmakers and experts said they're skeptical of his claims and whether they'd ever see approval. 

"That is part of a plan that needs to be put before the governor’s office by Dec. 1," Stokes said of pitching a new facility, referring to the deadline the hospital's parent corporation has to submit a study on how to strengthen NUMC’s operations and financial sustainability.

Last year, the state transferred control of the hospital’s board away from Republican Nassau County officials to Democratic state lawmakers. The hospital is more than $1.4 billion in debt and is one of the most financially distressed hospitals in New York. It serves a high share of  patients on Medicaid and Medicare, which pay hospitals less for services than private insurance providers.

Gordon Tepper, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, said in an email statement that "our priorities for NUMC are patient care and the long-term fiscal stability of the hospital. We look forward to seeing the proposals in their strategic plan."

State Sen. Steven Rhoads (R-Bellmore), whose district includes NUMC, doubted whether it would be cheaper to build a new facility.

"No plans, renderings, or details from the hospital have been shared with local officials or released to the public. Naturally, I question how constructing an entirely new 530-bed facility could ultimately be more fiscally responsible for taxpayers than addressing the infrastructure needs of the current hospital," Rhoads said in a statement.

During Newsday's tour, Stokes pointed out stress cracks snaking across the walls of the safety-net hospital, which was built in the 1970s. Bursting pipes and leaks are not uncommon, forcing hospital officials to move patients to other areas of the facility, said Stokes, who took on his role in January.

"I have video footage of a pipe that burst, and it looks like rain coming down from the ceiling with about 2 inches of water flowing down the hallway," he said.

Buckets and trash cans are being used to capture some of the water leaking from pipes.

NUMC's decades old heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is also faulty, prompting some operating rooms to temporarily shut down earlier this year because the HVAC system couldn’t keep up with the weather, Stokes said. He said just two of the four boilers are functioning, with one boiler broken for the last three decades.

The hospital has been beset by allegations of financial mismanagement. NUMC sued its former CEO in August of last year for allegedly authorizing more than $1 million in wrongful payouts and destroying documents, claiming she improperly reimbursed herself. In January, the hospital’s parent company sued several former high-ranking employees for receiving improper payouts.

Newsday previously reported former NUMC executives spent thousands of dollars on meals and hotel stays as the hospital was strapped for cash. The attorney general’s office is now investigating NUMC.

Building a new hospital would take several years since it would require state approval and other permits. Long Island hasn't had one built in more than four decades.

In June, Manhattan-based NYU Langone announced plans to build a 500-bed hospital in Melville, amultibillion-dollar, 1-million-square-foot facility that would also contain an emergency room, Newsday previously reported.

State Sen. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury), whose district neighbors NUMC, said the facility's state could be an opening to explore broader plans that include affordable housing and assisted living.

"The future of NUMC should not be viewed simply as a question of fixing an old building or starting fresh. This is an opportunity to reimagine the entire campus to create a modern health care facility that Nassau County residents deserve," she said in a statement.

But Bill Hammond, a senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center, an Albany-based fiscally conservative nonprofit, said he's skeptical of a plan to build something new when hospital trends are pointing to smaller, consolidated facilities. 

While some of NUMC's financial trouble may come from the aging infrastructure, he said, "a lot of it has to do with the population they serve and the fact that demand for their services is declining." 

An affiliation with a bigger health care system could also help NUMC get better contract rates, Stokes said.

For years, NUMC leaders have floated plans to partner with larger health systems to help secure financial stability and streamline operations, but nothing lasting has materialized. 

And current executives at those systems have yet to publicly endorse teaming with the hospital.

In an interview with Newsday in June, NYU Langone’s CEO, Dr. Alec C. Kimmelman, said there were no conversations with NUMC about a possible affiliation or partnership to assist the hospital.

Mount Sinai and Northwell Health, two other healthcare behemoths, did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Newsday Associate Editor Joye Brown contributed to this story.