Originally Published in Brooklyn Daily Eagle
This newspaper has been faithfully chronicling the
ins and outs of the Long Island College Hospital (LICH) and, to a lesser
extent, the Interfaith Hospital controversies. Turning our attention to
Manhattan, we’re sure most readers are also familiar with the St. Vincent’s
Hospital conflict of several years ago.
Implicit in all these controversies, however, is the
idea that a hospital is nothing but an endless money drain. There’s some truth
to this—many patients are on Medicare or Medicaid. When funds are cut, the
hospitals suffer. But hospitals indirectly contribute large amounts of money to
the community at large, and when a hospital closes, the entire community
suffers as well.
Let’s take hospital beds. Beds require linen,
pillows, and so on. The company that supplies linen to the hospital probably
employs many people and pays a good deal of money in taxes. Without the
hospital as a client, that company may have to lay off employees. It will also
pay fewer taxes, thus depriving the government of much-needed tax revenue.
Let’s also take food. Every hospital has a cafeteria
and also delivers food directly to patients in their rooms. Food
concessionaires also hire employers, pay taxes, and purchase large amounts of
food from suppliers. No cafeteria, no cafeteria employees. In a normal, healthy
economy, these employees would find new jobs in a few weeks. But we’re not
living in a healthy economy.
Same thing for the various coffee shops, restaurants
and bars around a hospital. Many of these places mainly cater to hospital
employees and visitors. If there’s suddenly no hospital, then half of these
places may very well close. Their former employees will then spend less money
at the supermarket and other local stores, sending negative waves through the
local economy.
Transportation? Private car services near hospitals
also rely on hospital visitors for much of their trade. If there’s no hospital,
there will be fewer trips. Ultimately, fewer cars will be needed.
In macroeconomics, all of this is known,
appropriately, as the “ripple effect.” This effect is worse when a hospital is
the major employer in a neighborhood, as Long Island College Hospital probably
is in Cobble Hill. As bad as the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital was, the
total economy of Greenwich Village wasn’t impacted that much because the West
Village is jumping with hundreds of bars, clubs and souvenir shops. Closing
LICH and Interfaith would hurt the areas surrounding these institutions much
more.
The presence of a hospital can even cut down on
crime. No one wants to mug a passer-by or sell drugs across the street from a
hospital because people are constantly coming and going. But once a hospital
closes and all you have are some big, empty buildings, the criminal element
could see this as a green light to move in.
To sum up, hospitals aren’t just annoying, although
necessary, institutions that cost millions of dollars. They generate lots of
money into the local economy through purchases, services for visitors,
businesses that cater to employees and much more. They also help keep the
neighborhood safer. Hospitals don’t just generate physical health – they
generate economic health, as well.
