New York – Bellevue and Coney Island Hospitals to be Closed for Weeks

New York – An official says New York City’s storm-damaged Bellevue and Coney Island hospitals won’t be fully running until early next year.

Both hospitals were evacuated after being inundated by Superstorm Sandy. Coney Island is already running outpatient services. City Health and Hospitals Corp. President Alan Aviles said Monday that Bellevue expects to start offering outpatient services Nov. 19.

Aviles says the next focus will be reopening the hospitals’ emergency rooms. Aviles says that will require state permission, especially since Bellevue’s emergency room would have to run on generator power for a while.

He says the operating rooms, critical care units and other facilities could open by Jan. 1 at Coney Island and the first week of February at Bellevue.