One Brooklyn Health (OBH) Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sandra Scott led a delegation of hospital executives on Monday, September 28th, fielding sharp community questions on emergency room delays, infrastructure failures and patient care while outlining multi-million-dollar modernization plans across the network at a two-hour town hall, hosted by the OBH Community Advisory Board.
Held at the Hebrew Educational Society, at 9502 Seaview Avenue, the town hall brought hospital leadership face-to-face with residents demanding accountability for long-standing service issues at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center and surrounding facilities.
Scott, alongside President and Chief Transformation Officer Art Gianelli and Chief Patient Experience Officer Nicole Francois, detailed ongoing capital projects intended to overhaul the healthcare system. Key initiatives presented by leadership included:
- Kingsbrook Campus Redevelopment: Construction plans for approximately 700 affordable housing units, a new medical village and expanded outpatient and behavioral health services.
- Brookdale Hospital Upgrades: Renovated trauma and critical care units, modernized diagnostic imaging systems and additional emergency treatment space. OBH officials noted that 30 new emergency medicine physicians have been hired over the past two years.
- Infrastructure Repairs: Proposals to secure funding for a new energy-generation plant to stabilize Brookdale’s aging electrical grid, a project expected to take two years once financing is finalized.
- Economic Inclusion: A target of 35% participation for minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) in state-funded construction and transformation projects.
Despite the presentation of facility upgrades, community members raised direct concerns regarding daily operational failures. Residents cited instances of poor front desk assistance, communication breakdowns between staff and expectant mothers and severe crowding in emergency departments — including one report of a patient waiting six days in the emergency room for an inpatient bed.
In response to extended wait times, OBH leadership acknowledged that prolonged emergency room stays remain unacceptable. Executives announced plans for a specialized clinical decision unit designed to streamline patient triage, deliver faster treatment and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions. Nursing and security leadership also apologized for communication lapses, committing to internal reviews and staff retraining.
The meeting concluded with pledges from OBH management to hold regular follow-up town halls to track operational progress and evaluate whether facility investments result in measurable improvements to patient outcomes.
