The Lenox Hill Healthplex, the only free standing emergency room in Manhattan, has opened in the former O’Toole building of St. Vincent’s Hospital on 7th Avenue and 12th street. How are they doing so far?
For months, representatives of the Healthplex have been making presentations to various community organizations and clubs throughout the Village and giving tours of the facility as it approached opening. On July 22, a presentation was made to a joint meeting of several Community Board 2 sub-committees at the LGBT center on 13th street, which is right next to the Healthplex. As before, a general description of the services and staffing of the facility was described (see WestView News, May 2014, Coming Attractions at the Healthplex).
But, for the first time, they were able to present some information about how the center was actually working, and not just plans and projections for the future. Dr. Eric Cruzen, the Emergency Medicine Director, presented some very preliminary data from the first six days of business, and responded to numerous questions from the audience. In the first six days of operation, 233 patients were seen in the center, with about a 50:50 split between those who were brought in by EMS and those who walked in themselves. At this rate of about 40 patients per day, it is running at half the projected rate of 30,000 people to be seen in the first year. The most common reason was for drug and alcohol reactions, second was gastrointestinal complaints, and third was chest pain of various types. Thirteen people required admission to a hospital in-patient facility, which was only 5.6% compared to a previous projection of a 10% hospitalization rate. Eight were sent to Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side, and five were sent to other hospitals at their request. The reasons for admission included broken bones requiring surgery, intracranial bleeding, abdominal surgery, sepsis, skin infection, and psychiatric problems, among others. There were no deaths.
Although no specific figures were cited, the Healthplex will be charging fees similar to other North Shore/ LIJ (the parent organization of Lenox Hill Hospital) emergency rooms, which are traditionally much more expensive than store-front walk-in Urgent Care centers. It will not be charging for “observation” status which has recently caused some unexpected bills for Medicare recipients.
What will happen in the future? Only time will tell if medical statistics continue like these presented here. In the empty floors of the building there are plans to open, in the next one to two years, primary care and specialty doctor’s offices, an imaging center with capabilities exceeding those in the emergency room, and an ambulatory surgery center specializing in orthopedic procedures, along with other services. One of the speakers said that the center is projected to be in the red for at least five years, although it is not clear if that just refers to the emergency room or if it includes these projected new services. In any case, it appears that Lenox Hill is thinking in the long term and not hoping for a quick financial bonanza.
So, after about a week of operations, this is the best information that is available from the facility. What do the patients think? Westview came across one Village resident who had actually used the center for a brief gastrointestinal disorder. It was described as clean, with a nice staff, efficient, fast (in and out in two hours) and “pretty nice.” Let’s hope it stays that way.
