Update -- Gov. Cuomo Postpones Interfaith Medical Center Closure for Three Months

Photo: MK Metz

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has postponed closing Interfaith Medical Center, which serves Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, for a month or two.

UPDATE: The reprieve will last three months,  according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The language of the state DOH has changed subtly -- instead of using the words "closure plan," they have started calling it a "transition plan":

“During this period, the State Health Department will continue its review of IMC's transition plan and work closely with the facility towards final approval. The state is committed to establishing a quality, accessible and sustainable health care delivery system to serve patients and community residents.”

Interfaith sees some of Brooklyn's sickest people and handles thousands of psychiatric cases.

Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, is also teetering on the brink after being stripped of assets and patients by its overseers, SUNY Downstate.

Both hospitals treat hundreds of thousands of Brooklynites in multiple neighborhoods. No comprehensive studies, however, have been carried out concerning the health care needs of the Interfaith or LICH service areas, and how these patients could get health services, especially emergency services, if their hospitals were closed.

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