The dying Interfaith Medical Center still has a faint heartbeat, thanks to a sympathetic bankruptcy judge.
Supporters of the Bedford-Stuyvesant hospital had argued in federal court that the state moved ahead with its plan to close the cash-strapped institution without a legally obligated 90-day review — and state officials ultimately concurred Monday that “the closure plan does not yet meet the department’s requirements.”
The bankruptcy court ultimately agreed, delaying a shut-down that had been slated to begin Monday.
But the ruling will likely only slow the inevitable. The hospital is losing more than $1.5 million a month, records show, and its 1,544 doctors, nurses and other staffers will be laid off on Sept. 11.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
In the meantime, there’s no formal plan to save the medical center, whose rehab and detox units serve some of the poorest residents of central Brooklyn.
The overwhelming majority of its patients are uninsured, and the hospital’s financial problems began in 2009 after the state slashed Medicaid reimbursements.
That, combined with a failure to expand outpatient services, led to $57 million in losses in 2010, according to a state report.
State officials, hoping to keep the hospital open, suggested it merge with the more stable Brooklyn Hospital in downtown Brooklyn.
But Interfaith nixed the idea, later proposing a partial affiliation with Brooklyn Hospital. That idea includes closing some of Interfaith’s unprofitable units and expanding increasingly popular outpatient services for minimally invasive procedures.
Public Advocate and mayoral wannabe Bill de Blasio and other supporters hope the added time helps permanently stave off the planned closure.
“Now we have an opportunity to put a real plan in place that preserves the vital healthcare Bed-Stuy and Brooklyn desperately need,” de Blasio said.
Date: August 26, 2013