Closing ailing private hospitals could leave the Big Apple shorthanded during a health catastrophe and overwhelm the public hospital system, a soon-to-be-released City Council study says.
“During past emergencies – such as the World Trade Center attacks – the city’s hospitals played an important role in the emergency response,” a draft report of the council’s Hospital Closing Task Force said.
The study concluded that “New York City presently does not have sufficient . . . capacity” in its hospitals to cope with such calamities.
But the state Health Care Commission for the 21st Century disputed the findings.
“The truth of 9/11 is that the hospitals were not overwhelmed. They responded very well,” said Commission Executive Director David Sandman.
Sandman admitted you “couldn’t possibly have enough hospital beds or staff available” during a massive epidemic, but health officials indicated they could use other facilities – such as schools and hotels – to treat the infected.