After nearly five hours of discussion, the federal bankruptcy court approved the $260 million proposal submitted by Rudin Management and the North Shore-LIJ Health System to buy out the old St. Vincent Hospital property Thursday.
Images
According to North Shore spokesman Terence Lynam, the healthcare provider will develop a 160,000 square foot facility to serve as an emergency care facility. The facility will be open 24 hours but will not perform inpatient services. The company plans to develop the other part of the property into condominiums.
The next step will be getting approval by the New York State Department of Health. The hearing was almost delayed when an anonymous rival group attempted to postpone the meeting in order to put in its own bid for the property, according to Crain's New York.
Although the center would employ 400 people, including some former St. Vincent's employees, many community members have expressed disapproval, saying that they instead want a full service hospital. According to Lynam, that is not possible given the current economic climate.
"It's financially unfeasible to develop a full-fledged hospital in this economic landscape," he said. "In this environment, where you have declining state reimbursements through Medicaid, you have hospitals closing all over the city, all over the state."
According to Lynam, North Shore conducted a study to see exactly what sort of health care Greenwich Village needed. The study found that the biggest need was a 24/7 emergency care facility.
"I think it's so crowded that the need for an emergency center is very important for the population," West Village resident Ivan Greenstein said. "The West Village absolutely needs it."
However, the New York State Nurses Association is not pleased with the proposal.
"Anything less than an acute care, full service hospital in this critical Manhattan location falls dramatically short of providing quality patient care to the former St. Vincent's community," Mark Genovese, a NYSNA spokesperson, said in an email.
Amy Pelligra, another West Village resident, added: "I'd rather have that than an empty building."
In a previous version of this article, WSN incorrectly reported that Rudin Management will develop the emergency care facility. In fact, North Shore will be developing the center. WSN regrets the error.
