The State University of New York board has voted to proceed with the sale of Long Island College Hospital to Fortis Property Group.
According to the deal, which is scheduled to be signed on June 30, SUNY will operate the emergency department until NYU Langone Medical Center — a partner with Fortis — takes over operations on Sept. 1. Fortis will pay the university $240 million for the Cobble Hill site in addition to the cost of keeping the emergency department open in the interim period. Fortis will also be responsible for any malpractice insurance costs the university incurs, Crain’s reported.
The emergency department currently sees approximately 35 patients per day, according to Ruth Booher, SUNY’s general counsel. The remainder of the full-service hospital was shuttered in May.
The SUNY Board of Trustees has been trying to close the hospital since February 2013. “I think we are ending up in The Right Place,” SUNY trustee Richard Socarides, who initially expressed concerns about the Fortis deal, told Crain’s. “We may have ended up in The Right Place sooner had it not been for some outside influences.”
Previous negotiations with the Peebles Corporation, an earlier bidder, derailed because of a disagreement over environmental liability, as Crain’s reported.
Fortis will start construction on a new building to consolidate all medical services within six months of the closing of the sale. The project is slated for completion within three years. [Crain’s] — Sasha von Oldershausen
