The fate of Long Island College Hospital in the New York City borough of Brooklyn continues to be up in the air, as a judge has ordered another delay in any closure plan of the hospital, according to a New York Daily News report.
LICH, licensed for 506 beds but only staffed for roughly half that amount, is part of State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, also based in Brooklyn. SUNY Downstate has been mired in turmoil since January, when New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit that found the medical center would be insolvent by this May. LICH, one of three hospitals within SUNY Downstate, has been a primary factor of SUNY Downstate's financial woes, losing hundreds of millions of dollars due to low occupancy.
In February, a judge issued a temporary restraining order on any closure of LICH. Now, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Johnny Lee Baynes has ordered SUNY trustees to halt any closure plans until they hold more open meetings on the matter, according to the report.
SUNY trustees are expected to meet this week about the closure plan, with public meetings soon to follow. LICH nurses, physicians and other unionized members called the judge's move a "victory." One nurse told the Daily News, "This ruling validates what nurses have been saying all along: SUNY acted unlawfully and irresponsibly when they voted to close our community hospital."
LICH, licensed for 506 beds but only staffed for roughly half that amount, is part of State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, also based in Brooklyn. SUNY Downstate has been mired in turmoil since January, when New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit that found the medical center would be insolvent by this May. LICH, one of three hospitals within SUNY Downstate, has been a primary factor of SUNY Downstate's financial woes, losing hundreds of millions of dollars due to low occupancy.
In February, a judge issued a temporary restraining order on any closure of LICH. Now, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Johnny Lee Baynes has ordered SUNY trustees to halt any closure plans until they hold more open meetings on the matter, according to the report.
SUNY trustees are expected to meet this week about the closure plan, with public meetings soon to follow. LICH nurses, physicians and other unionized members called the judge's move a "victory." One nurse told the Daily News, "This ruling validates what nurses have been saying all along: SUNY acted unlawfully and irresponsibly when they voted to close our community hospital."
More Articles on Long Island College Hospital:
SUNY Downstate Temporarily Blocked From Closing Long Island College Hospital
SUNY Downstate President to Recommend Closure of Long Island College Hospital
SUNY Downstate's Long Island College Hospital May Close Soon