Borough President James Oddo is hopeful that the city’s Health and Hospital Corporation will expand services to Staten Islanders now that Island physician Ramanathan Raju has been named to lead the city agency. In fact, he said his mentor and now counsel, retired judge John Fusco, is a former neighbor of Dr. Raju's. Oddo said those personal connections are valuable to building good working relationships. "The fact that he's a Staten Islander in a position of authority in a governmental entity that has essentially ignored Staten Island can only be seen as a good thing," Oddo said. "And I'm taking it as a good thing." |