Interfaith Medical Center got an 11th-hour reprieve on Monday in the form of a cash infusion from the state to keep the hospital open for a few more months.
The state Department of Health will give the hospital enough money to operate at least until March 7, 2014, according to a state spokesman. The announcement came two days after officials for the hospital announced it would close on Jan. 7, amid outcry from activists and staffers about the loss of care for Central Brooklyn residents, most of them uninsured.
“The state is committed to establishing a quality, accessible and sustainable healthcare delivery system to serve patients and community residents,” said state spokesman Bill Schwarz.
Schwarz did not say how much money the state will have to spend to keep the hospital open, but sources close to the situation said they believed it was about $2-million, which will come from a mix of a loan from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and discretionary funds from the state budget.
Employees of the hospital said they were excited to be able to serve the community for at least a while longer, and vowed to continue to fight for a long-term fix.
“This is a victory for the 175,000 Brooklyn patients that depend on Interfaith for care,” said New York State Nurses Association director Jill Furillo. “Our coalition will continue to work with the state in every way possible to secure federal funding so that we can keep Interfaith open as a sustainable full-service hospital for the long-run.”
One staffer called it a Christmas miracle.
“It’s like a miracle that we are still open,” said Charmayne Saddler-Walker, a registered nurse at the hospital.
The hospital employs 1,544 people. It was originally supposed to close in August but faced opposition from politicians, including mayor-elect Bill DeBlasio, and unions representing staffers. A bankruptcy judge postponed the closure several times, ordering all sides to sit at the negotiation table in November.
Other medical companies may take over the hospital’s many clinics.
Interfaith is privately run, but the building it operates out of is owned by the state’s Dormitory Authority.
Nineteen hospitals have closed around the city since 2000, according to the IM Foundation, including four in Brooklyn.
