Northwell ER wait times, housing, 9/11 terror attacks

Time to first see ER provider quicker

Newsday shined a spotlight on what has truly become a nationwide problem of crowded emergency rooms and the long wait times that are a symptom of that [“Average wait in LI emergency rooms near 4 hours,” News, Sept. 9].

But there’s more to the story: At Northwell Health’s emergency departments, everyone gets care, no matter their social class, immigration status, ability to pay or any other factor. We take great pride in our responsibility to provide empathetic care for all who arrive at our doors.

Determining whether your 3-month-old with a 104-degree fever at 3 a.m. simply has an ear infection or a more serious illness such as meningitis is why we need highly trained emergency medicine experts available to our communities 24/7.

Long Islanders are living longer, more meaningful lives, thanks to advances in medical care. This results in more complex medical problems that frequently require emergency department evaluations.

It’s still important to remember that when someone walks into an emergency department, the reason for their visit is unclear. For some of those patients, a life-threatening medical problem is a potential reality and evaluating that takes time.

Even so, the median time to be initially seen by a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner at a Northwell emergency department on Long Island, unlike an entire average complete visit, was just 36 minutes in 2023.

Northwell cares for almost 350,000 patients annually at its nine Long Island emergency departments. Northwell is never satisfied with the status quo and will continue to invest in our facilities and operations and in improving emergency department wait times.

— Dr. Eric Cruzen, New Hyde Park

The writer is executive director of the emergency medicine service line at Northwell Health.

Every LI community needs more housing

I’m disappointed with the editorial “State must alter housing plan” [Opinion, Aug. 27].

Some 336 communities in New York, including 22 on Long Island, have applied for pro-housing community status, and 162 have been certified. That’s a great success for this newly formed incentive program.

Just last year, elected officials (and Newsday) opposed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing compact, which would have done the heavy lifting required to allow for more housing production, and demanded incentives be put in place. The Pro-Housing Community Program is doing that, and hundreds of staff and administrators at Housing and Community Renewal, the Department of State, and Empire State Development, are working every day to tailor it to the needs of every community.

Every community needs housing for teachers, firefighters, health care staff, our workforce, youth and seniors. The municipalities that say “no” either don’t want more housing built in their community or are hard-core partisan actors. The editorial just gave them one more reason to say “no.”

Lastly, the editorial’s statement about “one-size-fits-all” was not only incorrect, but it was a cheap shot, reminiscent of the editorial board’s opposition to the Housing Compact last year. There’s nothing that is one-size-fits-all about Long Island’s many communities, and those managing the incentive-based Pro Housing Communities Program understand that.

— Michael Daly, Sag Harbor

The writer is a member of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council’s Housing Working Group.

It’s 102 horrid minutes that I will never forget

On any given day, 102 minutes are just 102 minutes “Don’t let 9/11 become just another date,” Opinion, Sept. 10]. Most of the time, 102 minutes aren’t much different than any other time.

But on 9/11, there’s 102 minutes that will never be forgotten. I wish I could, but we should not forget the loss of life that day. Or that any innocence we had left was lost.

I remember it as if it were yesterday. I stepped out from the subway, looked up at the towers and thought what a beautiful morning. Warm, not a cloud in the sky. A nice, late summer day. In just a few hours, that all would change.

I have never been so scared, so horrified at the sights, sounds and smells of that day. All in 102 minutes. I retain images I will never forget. It took 102 minutes from the time the first plane crashed into the north tower for it to collapse. In between, the south tower was hit and soon collapsed.

Sometimes, I hear a siren or a loud thud or a certain smell and I am taken back to that horrible day. All happening in only 102 minutes. I will be forever changed.

— Russell Battifarano, West Babylon