Long Beach ER Reopens After Closure Due To Vaccine Mandate

LONG BEACH, NY — After three days of uncertainty, the Long Beach Emergency Department reopened for round-the-clock service.

The about-face on Friday morning ended several days of political and community involvement to keep patients on the barrier island safe.

Mount Sinai South Nassau, which runs the Long Beach campus, had braced for a closure of at least a month due to a nursing shortage in connection to the state's vaccine mandate.

"As your Governor, I will ensure the state does everything we can to alleviate the stress on hospitals and emergency care facilities - so health care facilities, please continue to alert us when you are struggling," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. "I want to thank Mount Sinai South Nassau and local community partners for working with us to restore ER services and continue providing high-quality care to the residents of Nassau County. The Department of Health will keep working closely with hospital and local officials to monitor and troubleshoot any future potential staff shortage issues."

It's the only emergency room serving the 50,000 residents of Long Beach. The state Department of Health worked to ease the staffing concerns, although specific details weren't released.

The city of Long Beach wrote on its website it "demanded restoration of the services and our collective efforts made it happen."