Catholic Health World

St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan to end inpatient care

As Catholic Health World went to press, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York was preparing to close inpatient services at its flagship hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, due to severe financial troubles.

The system board was submitting a plan to the New York State Department of Health to discontinue all acute, rehabilitation and behavioral health inpatient services at St. Vincent's, the last remaining Catholic general hospital in New York City. An April 6 statement announcing the decision said current patients would be discharged or transferred to nearby hospitals.

In the statement, Saint Vincent Board Chairman Alfred Smith IV said the board, management and advisors exhausted all other alternatives in attempting to save the hospital.

Sr. Jane Iannucelli, SC, vice chair of the system's board, said in an April 8 release: "The leadership of St. Vincent's has been truly humbled by the massive outpouring of support coming from all over Greenwich Village and beyond — not just in the hours since our board of directors came to the extremely difficult decision to close our inpatient services, but throughout the last months when our fate has hung in the balance. We will never be able to adequately express our gratitude to our doctors, nurses and staff; elected officials and the community that we have called home for more than 160 years for their unwavering support during these tough times."

St. Vincent's expected to continue to offer outpatient services, even as it seeks new sponsors to operate those facilities and programs. The Saint Vincent system also will continue to run its other facilities, even as it seeks to divest them. Last month, the system signed letters of intent to sell two nursing homes in Brooklyn — Bishop Mugavero Center for Geriatric Care and Holy Family Home — and to divest its Pax Christi Hospice program. It also received offers from providers that want to run St. Vincent's Hospital Westchester of Harrison, N.Y., a behavioral health facility.

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