The sale of Massapequa General Hospital, in Seaford, has community groups such as Save Our Services on Long Island questioning what services will be lost and how patients will be informed of these changes.

SOS on LI is a coalition that was formed following a proposed sponsorship of Massapequa General and Mid-Island Hospitals by Catholic Health Services of Long Island and Winthrop South Nassau University Health System. It is a group of local citizens and community organizations such as Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, Nassau NOW, and the American Jewish Congress who have joined forces because they were concerned about the impact that these sponsorships would have on patient services such as abortions, birth control methods, and end of life services.

The plans for sponsorship of Mid-Island Hospital are still in the works and according to Andrew Kraus, a spokesperson for Catholic Health Services and Winthrop South Nassau University Health System, "The Project Review Committee of the State Hospital Review and Planning Council, a review board that looks at a proposal to acquire an institution, recently recommended the approval of the plan by Winthrop South Nassau University Health System and Catholic Health Services to purchase Mid-Island." This hearing was the first step in the approval process of the purchase of the hospital and there will be several more regulatory groups looking at the proposal before it is approved.

Recently the planned sponsorship of Massapequa General Hospital fell through and instead the property was sold to Catholic Health Services and Winthrop South Nassau University Health Systems. According to Kraus, CHS and Winthrop South Nassau decided to buy the land and the buildings but would not operate the hospital. They are therefore leasing the hospital back to Massapequa General to be run by their administration. According to Kraus, this was a financial decision on the part of Catholic Health Services and Winthrop South Nassau, based upon their examination of all possible aspects of the acquisition. Kraus added that the sale of the buildings and the land gives Massapequa General Hospital the firm financial foundation that they were seeking. The difference between the sale and the sponsorship is that under the sponsorship Catholic Health Services and Winthrop South Nassau would have been running the hospital whereas with the sale of the property the hospital is still being run by Massapequa General.

While the joint venture of Catholic Health Services and Winthrop South Nassau Systems are not involved in the operations of the hospital one of the codicils of the contract was that the hospital would be run under the Catholic Church's religious and ethical directives.

It is the implementation of these religious directives that concerns SOS. According to Karen Pearl, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County and a member of SOS, they were informed at a SOS meeting at Massapequa General that no services would be lost and that the church and the religious and ethical directives would not be guiding the practice of the hospital. She said they subsequently learned from Catholic Health Services that this was not true and that they would have to follow those directives which according to Pearl, "translates into a loss of services, most especially reproductive health services but end of life services is also in question." She said that they are bothered by the fact that this was done in a way that circumvents the approval process at the state level. Because it was a sale rather than a sponsorship, according to Pearl, they did not have to go through the same approval process. She said, "There was no public discussion, no public input and no regulatory oversight and it's just going to happen." She added, "So it's not only the loss of service, it is also all of the questions about what happens to those women if they go there and what kind of referral, what kind of information, and what kind of counseling is available to them."

According to Kraus, "The hospital, [with no involvement from Catholic Health Services] will provide the patient with a list provided by the State Department of Health of licensed healthcare providers who are willing and able to provide the services. A trained practitioner will also be available to review the list in terms of the patient's assessed needs; to provide patient medical records if requested; and when medically indicated follow up to confirm that the patient saw the provider and obtain documentation for inclusion in the patient's medical records." This pertains only to sterilization and contraception not to abortions. It is a list provided by the state and, Kraus stressed, not a referral. Kraus also pointed out that for Massapequa General this would not be a real loss because the hospital is not licensed to provide obstetric services and added that family planning services are offered elsewhere in the community. As far as end of life services Kraus states, "Whatever is legally permissible in New York State is ethically permissible."

In regard to any loss of service Kraus stated, "When you look at the issue, when you weigh the benefit of literally saving the hospital, and all of the services that are preserved, versus a small number of services, that are preserved for the community, and recognizing that obstetric services are not provided, I think, clearly, if you had the choice, I think most people would say 'We have to preserve the services for the broader number of members of the community.'"