Manhasset’s North Shore University Hospital filed a complaint against the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District, sparking legal action against the sewer district after it asked the hospital to disconnect its patient isolation rooms due to exposure concerns.
“The district’s actions are not only a breach of our agreement but also pose a significant threat to public health and safety,” Joseph Kemp, spokesman for Northwell Health, said. “By pursuing this complaint, we aim to hold the GNWPCD accountable for its inappropriate conduct and ensure that North Shore University Hospital can continue to provide essential medical care to the community.”
At the center of the issue is the treatment of sewage from the hospital’s patients with infectious diseases. The sewer district said there are deficiencies in some of the hospital’s buildings that pose threats to the community’s safety.
The Great Neck Water Pollution Control District expressed confidence in the court’s ability to resolve the issue favoring the sewer district.
“While we regret the need for time-consuming and costly legal action, we are confident that the court will recognize that the district’s requirements are essential for protecting our community’s environment and well-being,” the sewer district wrote.
The Great Neck Water Pollution Control District said it had alerted the hospital to deficiencies in the new surgical pavilion and other campus buildings in October. This included a corrective action plan for the hospital.
The hospital said the sewer district has issued demands and violation notices alleging the hospital is breaching agreements and local sewer use ordinances. Northwell Health called these allegations “fallacious and irrational.”
The sewer district said Northwell has “steadfastly” denied implementing these measures. The hospital said it has attempted to resolve the issue.
Northwell Health said it has tried to resolve the issue with the sewer district but that the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District has “rejected all reasonable efforts” by the hospital.
The Great Neck Water Pollution Control District said the hospital’s inaction “poses a potential risk of a severe crisis.”
“The Great Neck Water Pollution Control District, which has been granted jurisdiction by the NYS Department of Health, is committed to safeguarding our community, including the patients and staff of Northwell Health Systems,” the district said in a statement.
North Shore University, a member of the Northwell Health network, said the sewer district’s actions could threaten “the safety and well-being of patients and the communities served by the hospital.”
“The actions of the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District threaten the hospital’s ability to continue to provide the full range of excellent care that it has provided to the Great Neck, Manhasset and surrounding communities since the 1950s,” Kemp said. “Although we have made every effort to resolve these issues with the district, it has steadfastly refused to cooperate with the hospital and, therefore, we have been left with no choice but to take legal action to protect our patients and to ensure the continued delivery of world-class hospital services in our community.”
The complaint was filed in New York State Supreme Court in Nassau County.
The Great Neck Water Pollution Control District has been receiving and treating the hospital’s sewage for about 70 years under a program that has been conducted through a series of binding agreements. The sewer district said it continues to collect and treat the hospital’s sewage.
Northwell Health said its most recent agreement with the sewer district was extended in 2018. This agreement ensures that the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District will treat sewage from all of the hospital’s facilities.
The hospital said the sewer district has asked it to disconnect patient isolation rooms from the sewer system due to concerns about exposing sewer district employees or the public to infectious diseases from these patients.
“There is no support for that concern,” Northwell Health wrote in a press release.
The hospital said that if the sewer district’s demands are enforced, the hospital operations would be disrupted and patient care compromised. It said this would especially impact the new Petrocelli Surgical Pavilion, which houses patients in isolation rooms necessary to reduce their exposure to infection after surgery.
Northwell Health said the Petrocelli Surgical Pavillion was built in accordance with state and county health guidelines and reviewed and approved by the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District and the state Department of Health.
Northwell said the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District is capable of treating sewage from highly infectious diseases and that the hospital follows state protocols when handling sewage from patients with these sorts of diseases. It said these protocols abide by the highest standards set by the state Department of Health.
