St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village has been dealt a blow after a large hospital chain withdrew its offer to take over some of the financially crippled medical facilities.
In a letter obtained by NBC New York, Stan Brezenoff, president of Continuum Health Partners, told St. Vincent's president and chief executive, Henry J. Amoroso, that he is withdrawing the offer because it has received a negative response from the State Health Department and St. Vincent’s own board.
On Jan. 22, Continuum submitted an offer to St. Vincent’s to continue running its outpatient facilities on 12th Street and Seventh Avenue. Inpatients were to be treated in its own hospitals, St. Luke’s Roosevelt, on West 58th Street, and Beth Israel, on the East Side, reports the New York Times.
The majority of emergency room and inpatient services would have been abolished.
Continuum's take over plan received a chilly response from St. Vincent's and local politicians, who accused Continuum of trying to dismantle competition for its own gain, rather than rescuing neighborhood health care, says the Times.
In his letter, Mr. Brezenoff appeared irritated that St. Vincent’s was considering looking for other offers. He told Mr. Amoroso he feels “constrained to take the formal step of withdrawing the proposal."
St. Vincent's hospital is $700 million in debt, and hemorrhaging $5 million to $10 million a month, says the Times.
