Sanders Proud to Announce St. John's Episcopal Hospital to Receive Over $10M

James Sanders Jr.

June 14, 2017

Senator James Sanders Jr. (D-Rochdale Village, Far Rockaway) is proud to announce that St. John's Episcopal Hospital has received the final approval needed from the State Comptroller's Office to be awarded more than $10 million in state funding, which means it can begin renovations on its Emergency Department.

The hospital had applied for the grant money in 2012, but it had to go through a lengthy approvals process before getting the green light this week.

“St. John’s is the only hospital in my district, and indeed, all of Rockaway,” Sanders said. “Having reliable health care services is literally a matter of life and death. This funding will go a long way in ensuring St. John’s is better prepared to meet our increasingly high demands.”

Senator Sanders has long been a proponent for the funding and worked hard along with other elected officials - Assembly Members Michele Titus, Stacey Pheffer Amato, then-Assembly Member Phil Goldfeder, Senator Joe Addabbo, Council Member Donovan Richards and members of 1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers, forming a coalition, to ensure that the money finally arrived. 

"A special thank you to all for your tremendous support and assistance in getting us to this point.," said Renee Hastick-Motes, Vice President of External Affairs for St. John's Episcopal Hospital. "This is great news for St. John's and the Rockaway community."

St. John's serves more than 130,000 people on the peninsula annually. It has 240 beds, more than 400 physicians and 1,500 employees. The new influx of funding comes from a pot of $672.9 million in grants that was set aside for New York to improve health care services.