Despite hopes that the sale of the Nassau County Medical Center to a Public Benefits Corporation would have already taken place, the PBC and the Nassau County Legislature have hit a sticking point in negotiations.

The Nassau County Legislature hoped to sell the East Meadow based hospital to the PBC in order to allow the hospital to get equipment, staffing, and improvements without having to go through governmental procedures that a county-run hospital does, while at the same time saving Nassau County taxpayers money. The irony of the situation is that the problem now hindering the sale of the hospital has to do with labor costs and it could potentially end up costing the taxpayers.

According to Eric Rosenblum, of Levittown, the chairman of the Public Benefits Corporation, everything is now up in the air because they had reached an agreement with the administration but the members of the legislature decided they did not like that arrangement and changed the terms, reducing the subsidy to $12 million. He said, "With $12 million we can't pay our bills. What we need is for the county to pay a labor subsidy to us, the cost of our labor, over and above the industry average, which obviously changes each year because there are different costs of living increases, etc., but in order for this hospital to be competitive, we have to be able to pay the same as North Shore, Winthrop, and LIJ."

According to Nassau County Legislator Dennis Dunne, also of Levittown, the legislature changed the terms in the best interest of the taxpayer and the Public Benefits Corporation. He stated, "We drew up some guidelines because the guidelines that were given previously weren't realistic so the county legislature provided a little bit of leadership and we changed some of the things to make it more palatable for both the taxpayer and the Public Benefits Corporation."

Rosenblum, on the other hand does not believe these terms are in the best interest of the hospital. He stated, "We have to be able to pay our bills. We are not going to go through with any transaction that does not allow the hospital to pay its bills."

Dunne's main concern is "that the mission of the facility is maintained and that they take care of those that are uninsured and underinsured." He believes that all the kinks can be worked out and that negotiations will be settled shortly. He added, "I'm sure that in a short amount of time everything is going to be worked out where everybody will be happy."

The negotiations, according to Dunne, are currently between County Executive Tom Gulotta and Rosenblum. According to Rosenblum no negotiations are taking place currently but he expects them to begin within the next week or so.

Dunne believes that both the Public Benefits Corporation and the legislature are doing their jobs. In reference to Rosenblum, Dunne stated, "He's doing the best he can for the Public Benefits Corporation." He added, "We in turn have to do the best we can for the taxpayer." Rosenblum concurred, stating, "Everybody is negotiating in good faith and these are honest differences of opinion. There's really no good guy and no bad guy here."