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 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]