Don't let politics derail Wyandanch health center

A plan for a new Suffolk County health center in Wyandanch is key to the revitalization of the community.

Removing the current center to a new location nearby would clear the crucial spot where it now sits, paving the way for redevelopment of this distressed community. It would also provide the county with a larger, better-designed building, at a lower cost per square foot. The better design could save Suffolk money by bringing in more patients who have insurance and help it meet the requirements to be a Federally Qualified Health Center.

So there's plenty of reason for town-county cooperation, even though Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone and County Executive Steve Levy are almost certain to oppose each other in the November election for Suffolk executive. There will be plenty to argue about, but rescuing Wyandanch should be out of bounds for political rhetoric.

Levy's staff has been working well with Bellone on the town's Wyandanch Rising initiative, especially in the area of bringing sewers to downtown Wyandanch. If that sounds ho-hum, it's not. Without sewers to handle waste from increased development, there's no way Wyandanch can attract the kinds of businesses it needs to prosper.

Now there's a new test of that cooperation. Last week, Bellone rolled out a plan, years in the making, to finance a new health center. It would cost $12 million to $13 million. The current Martin Luther King Jr. Community Health Center, serving 40,000 patients a year, poses two problems: It's a former supermarket, not designed as a health center, and it's no longer big enough. Also, it sits on a strategic corner on Straight Path, right across the street from the Long Island Rail Road station.

"We know they need that land for economic development purposes, and we want to be partners," Levy said. So far, so good. But Levy, who has never been shy about holding news conferences, argued that Bellone's presentation to the health center advisory board, which Levy referred to as a news conference, was premature.

The financing mechanism, with help from a nonprofit developer, the National Development Council, is complicated: tax-exempt bonds and a tax-credits program designed to help communities like Wyandanch with economic development.

The other complexity will be the Levy-Bellone relationship as November approaches. Among other twists, the town's liaison to the county legislature on this issue will be Bellone's new director of intergovernmental relations, Ben Zwirn, who performed a similar function for Levy until recently.

In the months ahead, here's what must happen: The county should do its due diligence on costs and possible locations for the new center, and the town should make sure it gets the financing and land acquisition right. And here's what must not happen: The politics of now can't be allowed to derail progress toward a better future for the county and for Wyandanch.