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A loss for Victory

By Loren Bonner
for The Brooklyn Paper
You know it's an important issue when these three guys stand together. On Monday, Councilman Vince Gentile (D–Bay Ridge), state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) and Rep. Vito Fossella (R–Bay Ridge) joined a rally to save Victory Memorial Hospital.

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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.

“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.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper

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