Opioid Lawsuit Is First Sign of Accountability
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_________________ ________________ Glen COVe COMMUNITY UPDATE Infections as of July 8 4,111 HERALD Infections as of July 5 4,109 Ashanti attends School district Boutique hosts RXR event thanks front-liners fashion show Page 3 Page 8 Page 12 $1.00 VOL. 30 NO. 29 JULY 15 - 21, 2021 Opioid lawsuit is first sign of accountability By MALLORY WILSON approximately $15.3 million of a [email protected] $230 million settlement with the state by pharmaceutical manu- Nassau County has estab- facturer and distributor Johnson lished a revenue fund to help end & Johnson, which has been opioid abuse, officials announced accused of helping to fuel the opi- last week. oid crisis in New York. With the The Special Revenue Fund settlement, Johnson & Johnson will bring Nassau avoided going to trial County “one step with several other closer to ending the opioid manufactur- heroin and opioid assau ers. abuse epidemic,” N County is In a statement on County Legislator its website, Johnson Rose Marie Walker, paying a painful & Johnson said that who chairs the Legis- the settlement was lature’s Health Com- price to heal not an admission of Courtesy Loggia Glen Cove No. 1016 mittee, said in a the damage guilt, and that “the news release. money given will Honored for her Italian pride The funds will be caused by provide New York, directed toward edu- the opioid and all involved, Noemy Annunziata, of Glen Cove, earned the Loggia Glen Cove No. 1016 Dante Award for cational programs to funding to help Excellence in Italian for her essay on what it means to be Italian. She spoke at an awards ceremo- help addicts, Walker epidemic. address any and all ny on July 7 and thanked Loggia President Tony Sclafani for the honor. Story, Page 5. said. “We want to opioid-related is- send a clear message LAURA CURRAN sues.” The company to the residents of said it had discontin- Nassau County that County executive ued making prescrip- we are committed to tion pain medica- New life for abandoned doing everything in tions in the U.S. our power to take on these drugs Last month, a class-action law- that have ruined our communi- suit filed by Nassau and Suffolk ties, broken up families, and con- counties and state Attorney Gen- condo project on Hill Street tinue to put our children in eral Letitia James convened in harm’s way,” she said. court in Central Islip for opening BY JILL NOSSA the buildings half-finished, and been able to acquire it.” Daniel Schrafel, the communi- statements. The lawsuit accuses [email protected] the land became an eyesore. Breton Hills, at 38 Hill St., is a cations director for the Legisla- pharmaceutical giants including Now, however, with a new devel- 72-unit development of two-bed- ture’s Democratic caucus, said Teva Pharmaceuticals, Ameri- Nearly a decade ago, the land oper, the first phase of the proj- room, two-bathroom units for the county was set to receive CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 adjacent to Congregation Tife- ect has been completed, and sev- people 55 and over. The previous reth Israel, on Hill Street in Glen eral residents have even moved development, Landing Cove, was Cove, was cleared in anticipation into their units at Breton Hills. also intended for that age group. of a new condominium develop- “This project here needed “Our firm looked at the prop- ment. But not long after several some loving care,” Joseph Iorio, erty four years ago, when it was units were built in 2017, the a partner at the developer, Arca- owned by a previous developer developer, Landing Cove LLC, dia Asset Services, said, “and that just left the property,” Iorio abandoned the project, leaving we’re very fortunate to have CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 2 Age-Friendly Center of Excellence GCH there for seniors BY LAURA LANE the director of geriatric medicine at the tions.” us achieve fewer avoidable hospital read- [email protected] hospital. “Our aim is to not only treat IHI’s initiative is based on a series of missions, better outcomes and more satis- patients’ diseases but to address each practices focused on addressing four essen- fied patients and families.” Frank Sabatino, 78, said he always patient’s goals and preferences, which took tial elements of care for older patients Khan said it was difficult to reach enjoys celebrating Father’s Day with his a shift in our entire hospital known as the 4Ms: seniors during the past year and a half family, but this year things did not go as culture,” he explained. “Our ■ What Matters Most: because they were isolated due to Covid-19. planned. While enjoying dinner, he said, patient care is not just medi- Know and align care with When the vaccine was available in Decem- he suddenly felt an urge to stand up. And cal issues, but the patient as a e want patient specific goals and care ber, many seniors were confused, he said, then he blacked out. An ambulance whole — their family situa- W the preferences, including but not had misconceptions and were fearful. arrived in what seemed like three minutes, tion, social situation, support limited to end-of-life care. “Many people did not know who to he said, and he was rushed to Glen Cove — to try to do the best you can community reach out to to answer their questions,” he ■ Medication: Use of age- Hospital. to provide them with the care said. “We reached out to skilled nursing friendly medication that does July 15, 2021 — GLEN COVE HERALD 2021 — GLEN COVE July 15, “They put me in a nice room right and support they need.” to feel centers and asked for a list of the seniors’ not interfere with what mat- away,” said Sabatino, who lived in Glen The hospital recently questions and we were able to answer comfortable ters most to patients, mobility Head for 43 years before moving to Glen achieved Committed to Care them.” or mentation. Cove two months ago. “They kill them- Excellence recognition, which bringing loved To provide the highest level of care to selves in this place running around taking is the highest designation a ones to the ■ Mentation: Prevent, older adults, Khan said nurses and nurse care of you.” hospital can receive from the identify, treat and manage practitioner took part in an online educa- When asked if he was surprised that Institute for Healthcare hospital. dementia, depression and tion program to learn how to better take the hospital had been recognized in Improvement. delirium. care of elder adults. This education began December as an Age-Friendly Center of GCH received these acco- during the coronavirus pandemic and the DR. USMAN ■ Excellence by the Institute for Healthcare lades, first as an Age-Friendly Mobility: Ensure that learning efforts are ongoing. Improvement, Sabatino said he “would go Center of Excellence and then KHAN older adults move safely to “We want the community to feel com- along with that without question.” the Committed to Care Excel- Glen Cove Hospital, maintain and function. fortable bringing loved ones to the hospi- Being a senior citizen, he said, has its lence as a result of its recogni- director of geriatric “Glen Cove Hospital has tal,” Khan said. “Future plans include drawbacks. “There is a so-called prejudice tion of the importance of geri- opening a Caregiver Center, which should medicine always been at the forefront of towards us,” he said. “Not here. I have atric care and a restructuring patient care and we are proud open in the next couple of months and nothing bad to say about Glen Cove Hospi- of sorts. to be part of this vital effort to developing a Mindful Unit to treat patients tal.” “We structured our facility and the way provide every older adult with the best with a cognitive disorder as well as a medi- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, we approach our patients to make it bene- care possible,” said Kerri Anne Scanlon, cal issue.” the number of Americans aged 65 years ficial for their care,” Khan said. “We have a RN, the hospital’s executive director. “The Sabatino wasn’t aware of efforts being and older is expected to nearly double over team that does outreach in the community future of health care requires innovative made by GCH to improve upon their care the next 30 years, from 43.1 million in 2012 at the Glen Cove Senior Center and our approaches that value older adults, for seniors. He said they are doing fine to an estimated 83.7 million in 2050. skilled nursing facilities. We are here to address their unique needs and provide now. “They are very efficient and they fol- GCH is working to expand its care for provide education and resources for our them with high quality care. Improving low the rules,” he said. “The help is unbe- seniors holistically, said Dr. Usman Khan, older population and answer their ques- the way we care for older adults can help lievable here. I think they are on a roll.” A REAL CONNECTION At PSEG Long Island, we are committed to improving system reliability; that’s why we’ve invested in strengthening our electric grid with hundreds more miles of storm-hardened wires and utility poles. It’s just one of the many commitments we’re making this storm season—we’ve never been prouder to power Long Island. Learn more about how we’re preparing for storm season at PSEGLINY.com/StormCenter 1137688 Ashanti cuts ribbon for The Beacon 3 BY JILL NOSSA 2021 HERALD — July 15, GLEN COVE [email protected] For the past few months, the Garvies Point waterfront development project has hit major milestones as new construction begins and other projects reach comple- tion.