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EditorialsIfiHe i \\ i u o H A C A r i f a W 'V dlW I * v D a H a ^ M V L i V I T k %u25a0 I IU I Tk%u00ab(A I I %u25a0!%> %It%u2019s unfortunate that a project intended to fiil the fantasies of childhoodhas been marred by the problems of the real world. The BrooklynChildren%u2019s Museum, which opened with seemingly justifiable fan fare ayear ago, hasn%u2019t aged gracefully. In fact, the financial and bureaucraticsnags that delayed the Museum opening then are still gumming the worksnow.And marvellous works they%u2019d be, as our story this week relates, if onlycity and Museum officials could solve their operational and moneyproblems. But short of funds for both completion of some exhibits and staffsupervision for others, the Museum is forced to keep some portion of themechanical displays closed down at all times. To compound the problem,there seems to be no set schedule for this rotating closing, so that visitorsare forced to take a chance and hope that the exhibits they%u2019ve got theirhearts set on will actually be open.Naturally enough, the situation produces some disappointed kids, someirate parents, and heavier crowds at the available displays. The Museumhas recently instituted an elaborate system of ticket control to combat thecrowds, but that has produced waiting times of up to two hours for someexhibits on peak visiting days.This is a financially bad time for all city institutions, and we%u2019ve seencutbacks and disappointments almost everywhere. But this is a museumdesigned for kids, who from all indications love it%u2014when it works. Thereare too many delightful exhibits designed for use that aren%u2019t being usedand too many kids waiting to be delighted who wait too long%u2014and aren%u2019tdelighted. It%u2019s time for a closer examination of what can be done with bothavailable and potential funds to alleviate the problem on both counts.Sound Off Feedback from ReadersBrava!I thoroughly enjoyed the article %u201c Europe on Four Guards a Day%u201d bv Lucette Lagnado (PHOENIX. July' 13). The travel section of the \get a story on that level. I hope, however, that Lucette is not dis-enchanted with the Medici s. Arts and Culture flourished under their years of rule. I would be more frightened about today%u2019s crop of politicos, who could learn a lot from Cosimo or Lorenzo the Magnificent. (At least their concept of vindictive justice was swift). (Courts take note). And Vinny Musacchia%u2019s drawings were superb. Bravo! Brava!%u2014Nino Pantano, President StreetOffensive Good WorksAs the Unification Church begins another drive in Park Slope I have determined what it is about them that offends me. Their %u201c good works%u201d are dhected to areas of greatest visibility,rather than areas of greatest need.They describe their %u201c Divine Principle,%u201d %u201cto solve the problems of individual isolation, depression, stress, breakdown of the family, apathy, non-cooperation, racial tension, and crime in the community.%u201d If that is their focus, why not work with the youngsters described so movingly in articles by Sister Sally Butler and Patricia Phillips in the PHOENIX (%u201c Community Forum%u201d ).Solving the problems of the youths who stand on the corners drinking, dirtying, and threatening people, would not be quick or flashy, but it would improve the community a lot more than putting planters on blocks that already have trees, and it might convince some of us that the Moonies are a church and not a money-making or political scheme. %u2014Rosalie Friend, Fifth StreetBusiness SenseYour front page story showing Council President Carol Bellamy %u201c running even harder%u201d (PHOENIX, July 20) whenWRITE US A T OUR %u201e NEW HOME//THE PHOENIXE P l T O R :3 9 5 A t l a n t i c a v e .B K L Y N . , N . y .11 2 1 7speaking for Gov. Carey at the recent NDC invention really means that increasingly she kisses the asses of the good old boys just like a regular politician. Last year she refused to endorse Nancy Wolf in her bid for City Council despite the fact that Wolf was female district leader from Bellamy%u2019s home base political club and despite all the effort and help she had rendered to Carol in earlier campaigns. She also refused to support Assemblyman Frank Barbara for Borough President last year. Carol may be smart, but only in the sense of the business office whore, or maybe Jackie Onassis. %u2014Jim Senyszyn, Democratic ComityCommitteeman. 18 ED 57 ADThank YouWe would like to thank the staff of the PHOENIX for assisting the Children%u2019s Center in their fund raising cultural events. Thank you.%u2014Larry Phillips, Program Coordinator, Our Children%u2019s Center, JohnsonStreetCommunity ForumWe Can%u2019t Afford Not to Talk About Woodhull HospitalBY ZITA FEARONWoodhull Hospital, a municipal hospital conceived of during the Lindsay administration as the most modern hospital money could buy, stands brand new and unused in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. In the cold fiscal light of 1978, many consider it too costly for money to buy.When Woodhull was planned in the 1960%u2019s, it was expected that National Health Insurance would be enacted within ten years and do for hospitals what Medicaid was doing for people, covering all costs, with the exception that National Health Insurance would cover the entire population. At that time there was an article in the New York %u201cTimes%u201d which predicted that by 1980 a hospital bed would cost $1,000 a day. (The cost of a bed per day is not really a measurement of what a bed costs, but is a unit measurement of hospital costs, i.e., what it cost to build and run a hospital divided by the total number of beds.)While Woodhull was not planned to cost anywhere near that much, it has turned out to cost $200 million to build rather than the original estimate of $85 million. According to Diana Murray at the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HCC) a reimbursement rate of $345 a day will be needed to operate Woodhull Hospital.Woodhull was built as a replacement for Greenpoint Hospital, which had been opened in 1913. Greenpoint is an obsolete facility and would probably have to be_^ j %u00bb _____%u2014 - -%u25a0 t__:__%u2014 ... j _ g,ci1 1 v.va vvj iv n u v a t v i i t\\j u t u t g it u p to COUCrequirements today. It has 174 beds, whileZita Fearon is a health activist and Park Slope resident.Woodhull has 619 beds. The Health and Hospitals Corporation simply does not have the financial resources to open and run Woodhull, even with the $345 a day reimbursement, which the State has not yet agreed to pay them. Therefore, in order to be able to afford to open Woodhull, HCC has estimated that it will have to close Cumberland Hospital with its approximately 310 beds, and close 272 beds atprove an embarrassment if it did not open. The New York %u201c Times%u201d supports opening Woodhull as does the medical staff at Greenpoint, believing that a far superior quality of health care will be provided at Woodhull for the community than at the obsolete facilities it would replace. Even closed, it is an expense, costing the HHC $11 million per year on debt payments to the State over the last several years.%u2018It is clear that people aren%u2019t willingto give up their hospitals until they haveprimary and emergency care.%u2019Kings County Hospital, leaving 1,020 beds there. Coney Island Hospital would have to develop a $1 million %u201c revenue enhancement plan.%u201dBesides the fiscal pressures on the HHC, all of this is happening in a climate where the New York State Health Dept, has identified what it believes are %u201c excess hospital beds in Brooklyn,%u201d with the consequent pressure on all hospitals in Brooklyn to either close or reduce beds. Many hospital applications have already been held up by the State for over a year. Yet with all the closings planned to facilitate the opening of Woodhull, HHC is not even sure that it can fill the beds at Woodhull. If it can%u2019t, it would have to be prepared io make funiier reductions in liie system.PUBLIC PRESSUREAs these realities have come to light, a great deal of pressure has come to bear publicly not to open Woodhull. The New York State Health Dept, wants it opened, since it was built by the State and couldMaintenance and security must also be paid for if it remains closed. Recently Mayor Koch has put together an advisory committee headed by Dr. Cherkasky of Montefiore Hospital. Koch is apparently having second thoughts about Woodhull. Meanwhile, many community people around Greenpoint Hospital want a moratorium on all activity related to Woodhull until they have been fully integrated into the planning process. Many community people around Cumberland Hospital want that hospital to remain open. It has an excellent Emergency Dept., superior to anything the volunteer hospitals provide in the area, it also provides extensive ambulatory care services and it is in the midst of iow income housing.While HHC states that free-standing ambulatory care units will be built to provide for that important community need, there is no such thing as a free-standing emergency dept. When asked about this, Diana Murray, vice president for planning at HHC stated, Thevoluntary hospitals are going to have to pick up that responsibility. The HHC cannot go bankrupt just because the voluntaries have not provided first rate trauma care in that area.%u201d While Woodhull will not be a tertiary care (super specialty) facility, it will provide one specialty%u2014 trauma (injury) care.RATIONAL THINKINGIt is clear that some very careful thinking will have to be done to reach a rational decision about Woodhull Hospital that we can all live with, a decision not based on political considerations. All the options should be carefully costed out. It will cost at least $7-9 million to renovate Cumberland, and a great deal more to renovate Greenpoint and at least $11 million a year in debt service on Woodhull. Kings County Hospital is almost unmanageable with many buildings, and many of them totally non-code compliant. It needs extensive consolidation and renovation, and probably a good deal of new construction.Cost should be a major factor in the decision, but not the only factor. We should decide exactly what kind of care we want for our communities for the future. As medicine becomes increasingly more technical and more expensive, it is not possible to have a hospital in every community. We simply cannot afford it. With the development of good primary care in free standing ambulatory care units, and with a good ambulance system, we should not even need to have a hospital in every community. But it is clear thatn o n n l o o r o n n f v i r i l l i n n ( a r%u00bb i\\ r o ne> f U o i i *t 1%u2014 %u00a9 o - ~ - r *%u2022%u2014hospitals until they do have primary and emergency care. Too many hospitals have already closed in our comm ities, taking with them primary and em gencv care, leaving our communities without any health care.Page 4 ; T H E P H O E N IX . July 27; 1978