South Beach Psychiatric Center sees first coronavirus patient Tuesday

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Island’s new South Beach Psychiatric Center hospital received its first patient Tuesday, said Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, who represents the district where the site is located.

The 262-bed hospital, which is treating only coronavirus patients, opened Tuesday in partnership between the state and Staten Island University Hospital.

When the Advance spoke to Malliotakis Tuesday afternoon, she said just one patient was being treated at the Center and that it would likely receive a few more before throughout the rest of the day.

However, SIUH, which is essentially running the site and providing day to day staffing there, would not say how many patients it sent to the site Tuesday, only saying that it started “transferring patients today.”

When the Advance visited the surrounding area of the site Tuesday afternoon, there was posted signage indicating the area was serving as a hospital but almost no foot traffic there.

Though all Staten Islanders will be able to use the site, it will mostly serve as a relief valve to SIUH’s coronavirus patients.

The Island’s second private hospital, Richmond University Medical Center, said Tuesday afternoon it had not yet sent any of its coronavirus patients to the Center.

“When we have a patient that we think matches the criteria we give [SIUH] a call, we discuss it over the phone, if the patient does meet the criteria, they will make the decision to accept or reject and then the patient is transported by ambulance,” RUMC spokesman Alexander Lutz said.

The opening of the South Beach Psychiatric Center hospital comes as the Island two private hospitals were treating 534 coronavirus patients as of Tuesday morning.

In March, the heads of the Island’s two private hospitals said they were able to expand to 829 ICU and general hospital beds combined under their surge capacity.

That means the hospitals could be at more than half of their combined capacity Tuesday treating coronavirus patients alone.

SIUH is leading the medical operations at the South Beach Psychiatric Center and any patient transfers from other hospitals like RUMC, will need to be admitted through SIUH North or South first,” SIUH spokesman Christian Preston said.

Preston said the South Beach Psychiatric Center is not an “emergency receiving facility” open to patient walk-ins.

In addition to SIUH running the main operations of the hospital, The New York National Guard helped set up the site and is providing troops in “access control,” said Eric Durr, the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.

Rep. Max Rose deployed to the National Guard April 1 and plans to work at the South Beach Psychiatric Center site and possibly another field hospital in the works at the College of Staten Island.

In addition to the 262-bed hospital that opened today, the Island is set to receive another 1,030-bed field hospital at the College of Staten Island.

But it is still unclear when exactly the CSI site will open its doors and who will staff it.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office has said the CSI site will treat both coronavirus and non-coronavirus patients.

Asked last week when the state’s new downstate field hospitals would open, Gov. Andrew Cuomo could not provide a clear timeline.

Instead, the governor said the additional field hospitals would open “when we need them,” describing them as the “last of the last resort” sites which you would still need equip and staff.

Rebeka Humbrecht contributed to this report.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.

Sign up for text message alerts from SILive.com on coronavirus:

RELATED COVERAGE:

CUNY shortens spring recess at all schools, including CSI

St. John’s University cancels commencement exercises

Uplifting video shows teachers dancing for their students

Remote learning a juggling act for those teachers with kids at home

Staten Island school principal tests positive for coronavirus

New York Public Library: Free virtual tutoring, read-alouds and more

College of Staten Island vacates dorms; may be used as medical facilities

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.