State cuts could shutter LI poison control center

Long Island's regional poison control center in Mineola is among three that would be eliminated under cuts proposed by Gov. David A. Paterson, a move that would reroute 50,000 annual hotline calls to Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan.

Under the plan, the state's five poison prevention centers would be consolidated into two - in Syracuse and Manhattan, said Jeffrey Hammond, spokesman for the state Department of Health. Calls to the Long Island Regional Poison & Drug Information Center at Winthrop-University Hospital would be routed to Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan, which now handles 70,000 calls annually.

"With a $9.2-billion budget deficit, the proposal to consolidate the poison control centers would provide the same services at a reduced cost, and isn't that what government is supposed to be doing on behalf the taxpayers?" Hammond said.

Tom Caraccio, clinical manager of the Mineola center, says the regional center is valuable because it can provide fast, on-the-spot advice - including the location of the nearest Long Island emergency room - even before the arrival of emergency vehicles. At the same time, it helps people avoid ER trips by helping them provide care at home - how to flush something out of a child's eye, for example.

"We have a strong emphasis on keeping people out of emergency departments," said Dr. Michael McGuigan, medical director of the Long Island center.

The proposal has raised the ire of several state lawmakers who want to save the Long Island center, and its counterparts in Buffalo and Rochester.

"I strongly think the Long Island center should stay," said state Sen. Kemp Hannon, of Garden City, the top Republican on the Health Committee. "You need people with the expertise here on Long Island."

Another committee member, Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington), said: "A closure doesn't necessarily make any type of sense - whether it's dollars and cents or common sense."

The state spends $5 million a year on the state's network of poison centers and says it could save half that amount with the proposed cutback. The plan is among dozens of cost-cutting initiatives proposed by Paterson, including the furlough of state workers, as he wrestles with a $9-billion state budget deficit.

Statistics from the American Association for Poison Control Centers show that patients who have consulted with poison control specialists before a hospital admission for a toxic exposure stay three days less than people with similar complaints who go first to an emergency room.

Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), a member of the Health Committee, said area lawmakers had expressed concern to Paterson about cuts that would close the Long Island center. "We intend to do all that we can to ensure it stays open," said Lavine.

With James T. Madore