NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Staten Island was once again left out of the city’s latest plans to brace for the coronavirus surge in the city’s hospitals.
This time, the Island did not receive any of the 291 military medical personnel the city deployed to its public hospitals, part of the Health+ Hospitals network, over the weekend, which Staten Island is not a part of.
Mayor Bill de Blasio last week called for 1,000 nurses, 150 doctors and 300 respiratory therapists by Sunday from the federal government.
Over the weekend, City Hall announced the federal government sent 291 military medical personnel to the city’s public hospitals from its initial request.
The recent deployment of federal medical personnel to the city’s public hospitals comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio has called on hospitals across the city, including the Island’s two private hospitals -- Richmond University Medical Center and Staten Island University Hospital -- to increase their intensive care unit capacity “constantly.”
However, a RUMC spokesman has said the North Shore hospital needs more staff in order to expand.
Though not providing a breakdown of exactly how much more medical staff it would need, the RUMC spokesman said they recently asked the city for more nurses and respiratory therapists.
“Right now we’re hopeful of the request that we’ve put in for additional nurses and respiratory therapists that [the city] will help us with that,” said RUMC spokesman Alexander Lutz.
But City Hall did not return requests for comment on why it did not send any military medical staff to Staten Island or whether the Island’s hospitals would receive any of the 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists or 150 doctors from the federal government the mayor had called for.
A SIUH spokeswoman said the hospital currently has “adequate staffing.” However, she cautioned that the staffing challenge would arise as the patient surge grows.
“We’re reaching out to staffing agencies to hire more nurses, recruiting for retired doctors and nurses, reaching out to per diem physicians and nurses,” the SIUH spokeswoman said.
The amount of staff needed was not specified.
The latest omission of the Island from the city’s surge planning for the outbreak comes as the Island’s two private hospitals could be at about half of their capacity.
The mayor said last week that the city would need a total of 45,000 clinical staff. He said about 7,500 would be needed in the city’s “traditional hospital buildings,” while the other 37,500 would staff non-traditional hospitals that are being created across the city -- like the field hospitals and hotels.
Last week, the Island was left out of the city’s public hospitals’ surge plan because the borough is not part of the Health + Hospitals system.
Under that plan, the city announced it would add 3,000 more ICU beds by May 1, equip them with more than 2,500 doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and physicians and free Covid-19 testing for its staff at their request, all at the city’s public hospitals.
De Blasio said Friday he predicts 5,000 coronavirus patients in New York City will need to be in intensive care unit beds by early this week.
Under the city’s current approach, the mayor said that hospitals would be converted to ICU beds and then additional facilities like field hospitals, hotels and other venues would be built out for additional capacity.
The mayor has vowed in recent days to look for “every additional opportunity” to build more hospital capacity on Staten Island during the coronavirus outbreak.
He has also said the city has given supplies to the Island’s two private hospitals.
But the Department of Health does not provide a breakdown of the supplies the city distributes to local hospitals and the Island’s two private hospitals have not detailed how many of those supplies it has received from the city to date.
Last week, the mayor said he selected a hotel on Staten Island to use to house healthcare workers who have been exposed to the coronavirus so they can safely stay away from their families. He said those hotels could also be quickly turned into de facto hospitals.
However, the city has avoided saying which hotel on Staten Island it selected.
On Tuesday, the South Beach Psychiatric Center will open its doors to coronavirus patients. The facility will include 262 hospital beds.
The Island is set to get another 1,030-bed field hospital at the College of Staten Island. However, details about that site remain unclear.
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