Hospitals Prepare For Patient Overflow
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
With two Queens hospitals set to stop admitting patients on Saturday, other hospitals in the borough are preparing for an influx.
St. John's Queens Hospital and Mary Immaculate are preparing to close because their operator, Caritas Healthcare, filed for bankruptcy last week.
Officials at Jamaica Hospital say they expect a 20 percent increase in emergency room patients and are working with the New York State Department of Health to increase their capacity.
Other local hospitals say they are also gearing up for the surge.
"We are cleaning out the hospital this weekend from admitted patients who are able to go home so that we can move people out of the emergency room quickly up to beds when they need it."
Workers from the two doomed hospitals went to Albany on Wednesday to ask for more money.
State health officials, however, say they cannot afford to keep the facilities open.