PBMC needs hospital annex because ER is ‘at capacity,’ hospital official tells Riverhead Planning Board

Riverhead Planning Board members yesterday expressed concerns about traffic and access problems during a public hearing on PBMC Health’s proposal to build a freestanding hospital annex in the Wal-Mart shopping plaza on Route 58.

Traffic congestion on Route 58, access to the site by way of the intersection of Route 58 and Kroemer Avenue — which planning board member Lyle Wells called “dysfunctional” — and parking were issues that prompted questions from board members during the hearing.

PBMC Health wants to build the annex to alleviate the strain on the hospital’s emergency department, which PBMC Health chairwoman Sherry Patterson said is “at capacity and has been for over a year.”

Patterson, along with senior vice president Ron McManus and hospital consultants, told the planning board the new facility is vital to the hospital being able to continue to serve the community’s emergent care needs.

The new facility will offer urgent care and imaging services that will free up the emergency room facilities for true emergencies, McManus said.

“The emergency department currently sees 33,000 to 36,000 visits per year,” he said. “Wait time can sometimes be six to nine hours because of the volume.” Nearly 40 percent of all cases seen in the emergency department can be handled at a lower level facility, McManus said.

Patterson said the hospital board and staff conducted an exhaustive search of available sites along the Route 58 corridor, including some vacant buildings and undeveloped land. “This is the best location we found.”

The 3,500-square-foot annex building would be built in the southeast corner of the site, in what is now a parking area in front of the Bob’s Furniture store. PBMC is simultaneously seeking approval of a future 1,945-square-foot expansion.

“If you want a community hospital to continue to serve your needs,” Patterson said, “we need this extra capacity.”

The developer has not built out all of the developable area of the site, town planner Karen Gluth told the board. With the purchase and transfer of development rights, the site can have a maximum of 30 percent lot coverage. It is now at 21 percent, she said. The developer will purchase 2.03 development rights to allow the additional construction, according to hospital representatives.

The planning board did not act on the application at the conclusion of the hearing.

In other action yesterday, the planning board:

•   approved site plans of Apple Honda and Irwin Garsten for improvements to its auto dealership and wholesale auto parts facility;

•   approved the revised site plan of Stoneleigh Woods condominium on Middle Road; and

•   set a Feb. 5 date for the continuation of a public hearing on the application of Blue River Estates (now known as Peconic Crossing).