November 17, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 45

Past issues

Feeds

The Paper in print

Twitter

Facebook

Email updates

All Brooklyn news

Neighborhood Map

Bay Ridge

Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights

Brooklyn Heights

Downtown, DUMBO

Carroll Gardens

Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Boerum Hill

Fort Greene

Clinton Hill, Crown Heights

North Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick

Park Slope

Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace, Greenwood Heights

GO Brooklyn

Dining Guide

Where to GO Events calendar

Classifieds

The Brooklyn Wire

Mean Streets

Podcasts

Brooklyn Cyclones

Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID

November 17, 2007 / Brooklyn news / Bay Ridge–Bensonhurst

A loss for Victory

By Loren Bonner

for The Brooklyn Paper

Victory Memorial Hospital appears to be on its deathbed: The 107-year-old Bay Ridge institution announced sweeping layoffs last week and could be shuttered by Feb. 1.

The hospital, in the throes of bankruptcy for a year, revealed on Nov. 10 that approximately 900 workers would be without jobs on Jan. 1. Plans call for the rest of the medical staff to be phased out through the first month of the new year.

Hopes for a takeover by SUNY Downstate Medical Center were dashed on Monday, bringing Victory Memorial’s demise a step closer.

BoroDeal

“They’re going to have blood on their hands,” said Dr. Simon Saada, director of Surgery and Urology at the hospital since 1989.

Supporters said 300,000 people in Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst — many of them senior citizens and immigrants — would be left without proper medical care if Victory closes.

“I’m going to predict a healthcare crisis come February,” said Bill Guarinello, the acting chair of the not-for-profit hospital’s board of trustees.

The Draconian layoff moves come in response to the demands of creditors, said Claudia Hutton, a spokeswoman for the state Health Department.

The 92nd Street medical center was among those recommended for closure by the Berger Commission, a state panel charged with helping reduce the number of empty hospital beds to save taxpayer money.

Victory Memorial owes creditors $90 million, said Assemblyman Peter Abbate (D-Dyker Heights), who is among those battling to save the hospital.

“Health care is going up and they’re looking at the bottom line — not lives,” said Abbate.

Area residents will now have to choose between two already understaffed and overburdened hospitals: Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park and Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park.

But Victory Memorial supporters — including state Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge), Councilman Vince Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) and Rep. Vito Fossella (R–Bay Ridge) — vowed to fight until the end, rallying on Monday at the hospital

“I will not leave until they put the bolt on the door,” added Saada.

←Williamsburg: Oil spill fix moves slickly

→Dining: Thankfully open

Reader Feedback

Steve Katelman from Nebraska says:

This is horrible. Is there anything one can do to help save this institution (even if I'm in the heartland")

Nov. 28, 2007, 11:01 am

Pat from Bay Ridge says:

It is a big mistake to close this hospital down. This is the only hospital in this area that services this community. In a life and death situation, Lutheran Medical Center, Maimonides Medical Center, Methodist Hospital, Coney Island Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital will be too far away for people to get to in time to save their lives. Due to this misjudgement, the lives of the people in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn are being put at risk. The baby boomer population is getting older and will soon need more of these facilities, not less. Have we forgotten September 11, 2001? God forbid there is another 9/11 type attack on this city and there are thousands or millions of injured people. This city is going to need every possible hospital that it has. It should be the focus of the people in charge to keep hospitals open — not close them down. I say: It would be in the best interest of all the politicians that have anything to do with this to keep this hospital open.

Feb. 17, 2008, 3:27 am

Pat from Bay Ridge says:

There is one thing that can possibly be done. Write to the politicians who are running for President. Inform them of this tragedy that is occuring here in Brooklyn, New York. If it isn't stopped here in it's tracks, it will happen in other places around the country. Even in the heartland. Let the Presidential politicians make an issue out of this. Maybe this will change the minds of the uncaring powers that be.

Feb. 17, 2008, 3:31 am

Pat from Bay Ridge says:

It is a mistake to close this hospital down. One of the things that can be done is to write the politicians that are running for President and inform them of this tragedy. If this is allowed to happen here, it can and will happen in other states around this country, even in the heartland. Write the Presidential politicians and let them make an issue out of this travesty. Maybe then, the uncaring powers that be will change their mind and start caring about the people rather then the dollar.

Feb. 17, 2008, 3:35 am

Enter your comment below

Name: Neighborhood:

By submitting this comment, you agree to the following terms:

You agree that you, and not BrooklynPaper.com or its affiliates, are fully responsible for the content that you post. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening or sexually-oriented material or any material that may violate applicable law; doing so may lead to the removal of your post and to your being permanently banned from posting to the site. You grant to BrooklynPaper.com the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content in whole or in part world-wide and to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.