Senator James Sanders Jr. Leads Coalition to Prevent Cuts to St. John's Episcopal Hospital

Senator James Sanders Jr. is proud to announce that the proposed cuts to St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway have been halted now and for the foreseeable future thanks to the collective effort made by Senator Sanders, Rep. Gregory Meeks, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Senator Joe Addabbo, Assembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato, Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson, and District Leader Lew Simon working in conjunction with the Governor's Office. We appreciate the Governor's Office and its staff for helping us resolve this issue so quickly. 

There were proposals being floated that would have cut the 257-bed hospital, which serves the entire peninsula, to a 15-bed micro hospital and would have slashed 1,000 jobs. Far Rockaway saw the first case of coronavirus in the five boroughs and the surrounding area saw the second most deaths in the city due to the pandemic.

"Cutting services at St. John's would have been a death sentence for this community," Sanders said. "However, through the collective effort of government officials working together side-by-side, we were able to accomplish something great and now this hospital can continue to provide the quality and necessary health care it is known for."