By IMANI HALL

What began as a saga filled with haranguing, turmoil and uncertainty ended with celebration after a cadre of community leaders, elected officials and hospital administrators at North Central Bronx Hospital unveiled a plan to revive the neighborhood hospital’s delivery unit by fall. 

The plan, estimated to cost $2 million, was further helped by Councilman Ritchie Torres, who campaigned to get $600,000 to assist in the re-opening efforts. The funds, approved by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, were included in the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget. The rest of the funds, $1.4 million of it, came from capital monies the hospital had reserved for other projects. The funds have helped NCBH officials set a September opening for the ward.

The funds have been earmarked for several upgrades, including the installation of an updated security system for newborns and a new Post Anesthesia Care Unit. The updated ward will also include an eight-bed Labor and Delivery Unit, a 26-bed Post-Partum Unit, and new windows, floors and lighting.

“We want to ensure that mothers and newborns here in the north central Bronx receive the highest standard of medical care,” Torres said, standing alongside hospital officials on July 2 outside the hospital on 210th Street and Kossuth Avenue.

Monies will also go towards a marketing blitz on behalf of NCBH to ensure word spreads about the re-opening.

End to a Crisis
The latest news ends what would’ve been tough news for Norwood residents–the potential closing of the hospital. The ward was suspended last year because of lack of funding, along with an exodus of the unit’s medical staff, a blow to many Bronx mothers who utilized the ward to monitor their pregnancy. Expectant mothers, many of whom schlepped to nearby hospitals for care, took the ward’s suspension as a sign the hospital would ultimately close. NCBH had faced financial turmoil in 1999 when the hospital’s in-patient pediatric and rehab units were shut down.

Lorraine Brown, a representative from the Health and Hospitals Corporation, spoke at the announcement over how critical the ward was for Bronxites, particularly women. “When we had to suspend the services for women in this community at this facility, we learned very quickly how personal this was,” she said.

Torres, along with councilmembers Andy Cohen and Andy King, soon joined the battle to re-open the ward, known to have delivered 10 percent of the borough’s newborns.

“The reason why we have gotten to this point where we are today is because people pay attention to people who participate,” said King. The three legislators were on hand for a series of community meetings that explored options over how to restore services.

Northwest Bronx Committee Clergy Coalition Vice President Jhanet Sosa gave birth to her daughter at NCBH 15 years ago. She attended the gathering and spoke about the reemergence of the maternity board. “It’s great to see that all of us together have worked this hard to make sure that an asset here in the Bronx is being preserved for not only my daughter who was born here but all future children who are going to be born here,” Sosa said.

But the ongoing theme running for many officials who spoke was the power of collaboration, an example of what took place during NCBH’s darkest hours. Sheldon McCleod, CEO of North Central Bronx Hospital, told guests that “the lesson here is to never underestimate the powers of mothers to make things happen.”