By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS The State Health Department has promised a loan to a community hospital in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood to help it keep its obstetric and pediatric services operating, but hospital officials said Tuesday that more money...

When I read stories about the looming demise of Long Island College Hospital, I take it personally. My family doctor, John Romanelli, is affiliated with LICH.

Ten years ago I walked into Romanelli's office on Henry St. feeling lightheaded. He hooked me up to an EKG and immediately discovered that I was suffering from a ventricle tachycardia. He jammed his thumbs in my eyeballs to stop my runaway heart and minutes later I was on a gurney in the emergency room at LICH, hooked to monitors, on an IV drip, and being whisked to the coronary care unit, where I was treated by a renowned cardiologist named Dr. Terrence Sacchi.

Sacchi and the magnificent nursing staff of LICH saved my life.

After that, Romanelli made me see a team of specialists to make sure there were no other time bombs ticking in my body.

All of these great doctors were at LICH, which is the medical pacemaker of downtown Brooklyn, keeping thousands alive every single day and night.

First stop was Dr. Ivan Gruenberger, a urologist who diagnosed me with an enlarged prostate, but then uttered what Woody Allen calls the two most beautiful words in the English language: "It's benign."

Next stop was Dr. George...
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