Preserve Park Slope Wins Small Victory Against Methodist Expansion

Image via Change.orgBack in September, we posted about Preserve Park Slope, a group that formed to protest the planned expansion of Methodist Hospital. Last night, Community Board 6 voted 11-1 against allowing Methodist the variances required for their plans. According to DNAinfo.com:

[T]he "no" vote doesn't pack a lot of punch — it's just a recommendation for the full Community Board 6, which will vote on the issue next month. And even that decision is only advisory. The Board of Standards and Appeals has the final say as to whether New York Methodist can build its new Center for Community Health in the shape and size it wants.

Preserve Park Slope co-founder, Bennett Kleinberg says, “this is a small victory in a very long war. Having a world class medical center really close by would be a great thing. But a building of this size, and a project of this scope, should not be tolerated by this community.”

Bennett has lived around the corner from Methodist Hospital since 2000. Ten years ago, doctors at Methodist saved his life, after he contracted a systemic infection so severe, he had to be put into an induced coma for three weeks, suffered multiple organ failures, and required the amputation of several toes. Had the ER resident who first saw him not reacted swiftly, he would have died. In gratitude, over the ensuing years, Kleinberg has served on the NY Methodist Community Committee, served as the poster boy for great care in the 2004 Annual Report, and donated a plaque in the lobby in honor of all the doctors at Methodist whose care contributed to his survival. Still, he has a very personal stake in this game. His home is one of the few that will remain standing in the midst of all those hospital structures. The photo below shows the shape of the proposed building. Everything yellow would be demolished, including "period buildings" already owned by Methodist.

The expansion would not increase hospital beds. It would increase ambulatory care services, and basically serve to get more people in and out for procedures like endoscopies and colonoscopies. Part of the plans are for three-level underground garage that will allow for about 1000 cars to come in and out on a daily basis. Yikes!  That does seem pretty insane for a residential neighborhood.

Personally, I wish Methodist would focus first on being a better hospital, rather than a bigger hospital. What do you guys think?