North General Hospital To Close
By: Kafi Drexel
North General Hospital in Harlem is set to close its doors this week.
The hospital filed for bankruptcy today so that it can become an outpatient health center, in a deal brokered by Governor David Paterson.
Emergency services will no longer exist and will be diverted to nearby hospitals – including Mount Sinai, Columbia-Presbyterian, St. Luke’s, Metropolitan Hospital and Harlem Hospital.
During the dissolution of the hospital, some urgent care services will be offered through the Institute for Family Health.
“While it saddens us all to face closing the doors of a hospital that’s been an integral part of our neighborhood for 30 years, we see this as an opportunity to not only continue to use the North General facility to maintain the health of the people of this community,” said North General Board Chairman Rev. Calvin Butts.
Despite the fact that North General has been in grave financial trouble for the past few months, many hospital workers and patients said they were shocked by the news of the closure.
“It’s definitely devastating to the community for several reasons,” said Dr. Raju Ayinla. “One is the job losses, jobs within the Harlem community that will be lost. Also, there are patients here that we’ve been taking care of for years, and there is no other place but this hospital.”
“I think it’s very cruel and unfair because everybody here works hard and has families,” said a hospital nurse. “And we have bills and stuff to pay and they weren’t honest with us at all.”
“I’ve been a patient at North General for the past 17 years. North General saved my life,” said a patient. “And I think right now it’s a crying shame that people are coming in here and snatching the lives from under people’s feet.”
The hospital will officially close its doors on Friday. The health center is set to begin operating the first week of July.
The public hospital system will also run a nursing home out of facility.
Monday, June 28, 2010
North General Hospital To Close - NY1.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment