[Photo courtesy of William Allatriste]

Public officials and community activists called on Long Island College Hospital at a rally in Cobble Hill to reconsider its decision to shut down its maternity ward and to come up with a plan to deal with its financial problems. The hospital has been closing and/or selling off buildings in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. Two more buildings will be put on the market as part of the closure, bringing the total put up for sale in the last two years to four. (Curbed had a guest post yesterday by Lost City featuring a flier that’s been showing up in neighborhood mailboxes about LICH, in effect, helping to develop condos in the neighborhood.) LICH is run by Continuum Health Partners, which also manages Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan. Among those at the event were City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who’s taken a lead role in criticizing the shut down, along with Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, City Council Member Letitia James, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and State Senator Martin Connor.

LICH is not the only hospital in Brooklyn to close a maternity ward in recent years. Last December, Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge shut down its labor and delivery unit. Interfaith Medical Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant closed its maternity ward in 2004, and St. Mary’s Hospital closed down entirely in 2005.

“I am deeply disturbed by LICH’s recent decisions to close its maternity ward and rape crisis intervention program,” said Mr. de Blasio, who is running for Borough President. “Without these important components of the hospital, Brooklyn residents will not have access to the direct health care services they need and deserve. LICH must stop taking services away from Brooklyn families and work with the community to create a long-term plan for combating its financial problems.”

Mr. de Blasio recently sent a letter to the State Health Commissioner, requesting that the State Health Department evaluate LICH’s decision to close its maternity ward, and ensure that there are sufficient services available to our immediate community and all of Brooklyn. “I have already contacted the New York State Department of Health to let them know how concerned I am about the proposed termination of these services at LICH,” said State Senator Martin Connor.

City Council Member Sara Gonzalez suggested that is “being dismantled, piece-by-piece” and that the process is “both alarming and disheartening.” The hospital owns extremely valuable land in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. The two buildings that will be going on the market could each net tens of millions of dollars.