By Bryan Schwartzman
It was not an easy task to transform a series of burned-out, rat- infested Tudor-style buildings on Hollis Avenue into a state-of-the-art medical facility.
Now more than 10 years after the idea was first pitched by community leaders, Jamaica Hospital has completed its new primary care facility on Hollis Avenue near 200th Street in an area with virtually no doctors' offices or medical facilities and where many residents only receive medical care in emergences.
“The stores were abandoned and full of creatures that we don't see anymore,” said David Rosen, the president and chief executive officer of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
Rosen was the master of ceremonies for the facility's ribbon- cutting Friday.
“We didn't just make a modest statement,” he said. “This facility bears every bit the signature of Jamaica Hospital.”
Jamaica Hospital is located on the Van Wyck Expressway in Richmond Hill but has 10 satellite facilities in Astoria, Woodhaven, Springfield Gardens, Howard Beach, Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, St. Albans, Hollis, and Brooklyn.
The new facility, called the MediSys Hollis Tudors is 4,350 square feet with eight examination rooms, one procedure room, three dental examination rooms and an x-ray facility. Medicare, Medicaid, and most other forms of health insurance will be accepted at the medical center, Rosen said.
“This is a densely populated, medically undeserved community,” said state Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village).
Residents said there are only a few doctors' offices in the area, and many in the community get their only medical care by visiting Jamaica Hospital's emergency room. The smaller, community facilities are part of a trend in medicine which attempts to treat patients early before they visit the emergency room.
“It was the biggest thing when we got a call and heard the board approved our community for a satellite medical facility,” said Marjorie Banks, the president of the Hollis Local Development Corporation.
Banks first approached Rosen more than 10 years ago to push for a Jamaica Hospital medical facility in Hollis. Rosen said obtaining the financing, and erecting a new building was a time-consuming process.
“Hollis MediSys will give the people of southeast Queens access to the kind of high-quality, easily accessible health care so essential to maintaining healthy families and building healthy communities,” said Ronda Kotelchuck, the excessive director of the Manhattan- based Primary Development Corporation, a non-profit group which invests in community health facilities.
The PCDC provided a $1.7 million financing package for developing the facility.
“There are a lot of seniors in this neighborhood,” said Rev. E. Boatwright, a Hollis resident
“We are all very ecstatic,” said “I'm going to bring my grandkids here.”
Reach reporter Bryan Schwartzman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.