Seems LICH is Really on its Way Out This Time
The writing’s been on the wall for a long time, but now there’s no confusing the message: Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn Heights Cobble Hill is almost certainly closing, according to The New York Times. The paper reports that the hospital is likely to begin closing next month “after a decision by the Cuomo…
The writing’s been on the wall for a long time, but now there’s no confusing the message: Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn Heights Cobble Hill is almost certainly closing, according to The New York Times. The paper reports that the hospital is likely to begin closing next month “after a decision by the Cuomo administration to delay grants to help finance a merger intended to rescue the institution.” LICH was supposed to get $22 million in state grants, and if the money doesn’t come through, Stanley Brezenoff, president of Continuum Health Partners—which owns the facility—says the hospital “would run out of cash by mid-March. At that point, he said, he would be forced to begin bankruptcy proceedings and move forward with closing the hospital and laying off its 2,500 employees. Without the state money, Mr. Brezenoff said, Continuum could not complete moving the hospital under the SUNY umbrella. Mr. Brezenoff said that he was already putting together a draft closing plan and preparing to send out termination notices. He said that because the conversation with the state was so recent, he had not yet warned the employees that the merger might be called off.” Update: Thanks to the border patrol who helpfully pointed out that this is in Cobble Hill, goddammit, not Brooklyn Heights!
Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn May Close [NY Times]
This is NOT good news.
The ER is an important presence in such a densely populated area.
Haha, cobble, I hadn’t noticed the BH tag.
And Methodist was the hospital I was thinking was closest. As I recall, after my unfortunate LICH experience, I think I told my doctor never to send me back there, even if I collapsed.
“What happens when a hospital closes? Where does the community that it serves go? ”
That’s my question too. There’s Methodist in Park Slope but I’ve heard that place is pretty bad. Where does one go if you have to go to the emergency room?
Under an older group of leadership, the Cardiac Care unit here was surprisingly good. And the OB unit had a decent rep. But the general rep was pretty poor, and over the past several years the better docs have fled to other institutions.
LICH is in Cobble Hill. C’mon Gabby!!
Methodist is the closest hospital if this closes. I can’t say I would be sad to see this hospital close in it’s current form. It has a pretty weak reputation (other than the children’s emergency room — which has a godd rep). I can only hope that one of the better hospitals steps in and buys it. It would be a wonderful thing to have a hospital with a better level of care located here.
“in my experience, LICH was a HORRIBLE hospital”
Mine too, unfortunately, Snappy. LICH almost killed me in 2001. NOT kidding. Will tell you the story offline if I haven’t already.
Just like with St. Vincent’s in the Village, a lot of people are left in the lurch when a hospital closes. I used St. V’s for particular services and was truly left high and dry when they closed. A shame really. As for the property, not sure. But, in my experience, LICH was a HORRIBLE hospital. Not so sure its closing is such a bad thing IMO.
This sucks.
I hope that some medical company/organization buys some of the property and at least keeps an urgent care type clinic at that site.
My guess is that if/when the hospital closes, many of the ER patients will end up at the Brooklyn Hospital Center.
I live very close to LICH. Just curious. (Shut up.) What happens when a hospital closes? Where does the community that it serves go? I can’t think of another hospital nearby, and I’ve been living in the nabe for 15 years. Closest hospital I can think of is in Park Slope. Also, LICH has a LOT of real estate in Cobble Hill, and the parking garage and new hospital building weren’t built all that long ago. So what happens to all the property? Does that mean it’s all ripe for development and conversion, though the buildings are hardly attractive.