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By CLAUDIA McDONNELL
St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, which has fought a six-month battle to resolve its financial problems, announced April 6 that it will close.
The announcement came after the hospital's board of directors voted "reluctantly," according to a statement, to authorize the closing. The board stated that all inpatient services at the hospital's Greenwich Village site will cease, including acute, rehab and behavioral health services.
"The decision to close St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan inpatient services was made only after the board, management and our advisers exhausted every possible alternative," Alfred E. Smith IV, chairman of the board of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, said in a statement. "We are deeply saddened that we were unable to come up with a viable plan to save the inpatient services at the hospital that has proudly served Manhattan's West Side and downtown for 160 years."
St. Vincent's Hospital was founded by the Sisters of Charity of New York in 1849. In recent months it has struggled with a $700 million debt and losses of $5 million to $10 million a month.
Archbishop Dolan issued a statement in which he paid tribute to the hospital and the mission it has carried out, and expressed the hope that it might continue to function in some way.
"St. Vincent's Hospital has played an invaluable role in the life and health of this city for more than 150 years," the archbishop said. "It has been a cherished presence on the West Side of Manhattan, caring for all who have sought its care.
"That is why it is particularly sad that the board of St. Vincent's has had to make the painful decision to close its inpatient services," he continued. "My gratitude to the board, the co-sponsors-the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Sisters of Charity-the physicians, nurses, employees and so many devoted civic officials who have tried so hard to keep the hospital going.
"Although the Archdiocese of New York neither owns nor sponsors St. Vincent's, I am well aware of the important role it has played in the care of the city and the many efforts that have been made to preserve it," Archbishop Dolan said. "I hope that some way can be found that will allow St. Vincent's to continue to be a health care provider, even in a different form."
The hospital has struggled for months to find a solution to its financial distress that would allow it to remain open. A "Save St. Vincent's" rally on Jan. 28 drew hundreds of participants including health care workers, hospital administrators, union leaders, public officials and residents of the hospital's Greenwich Village neighborhood. Days later, Gov. Paterson approved state loans of $9 million and creditors put up $5 million. The governor also appointed a task force to seek ways for the hospital to continue in operation.
In February, union and nonunion employees at the hospital accepted pay cuts, and 300 workers were laid off. Other measures were used in an effort to reduce expenses, including freezes on pension benefits and the elimination of some residency and fellowship programs.
The board said that it would submit a closure plan to the Department of Health. All of the hospital's patients will be discharged or transferred to nearby hospitals. Elective surgeries will continue to be performed through April 14 "on a case-by-case basis," the board said.
It added that patients' health and safety are the hospital's "highest priority" and that physicians and nurses will continue to work with the hospital "during the transition."
The hospital will continue to offer outpatient services, Smith said in his statement. He noted that the hospital's Cancer Center, HIV/AIDS Center and other programs "will continue to provide care without interruption as we proceed with plans to transfer those services to new sponsors or other operating alternatives."
St. Vincent's Hospital is part of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers. The board stated that other programs and facilities in the system, including its nursing homes, home health agency and US Family Health Plan, as well as St. Vincent's Hospital Westchester in Harrison, "will continue to operate without interruption as the organization finalizes sales of those entities to other providers."
Information is available at www.svcmc.org.
