From Capital New York:SUNY's board of trustees may be forced in the next two months to consider closing Downstate Medical Center, given the financial picture at Long Island College Hospital, a SUNY official said Monday.
The hospital continues to cost the state about $13 million per month and SUNY has been borrowing cash from Downstate Medical Center to pay the bills. That money isn't expected to last beyond March, said Bob Haelen, SUNY's interim Chief Financial Officer at a meeting of the trustees.
Lora Lefebvre, SUNY's associate vice chancellor for health affairs, said, “The numbers are so large that closing a campus will have to be discussed. That is going to be a difficult discussion.”
Selling the hospital won't solve all of SUNY's problem. If the property were bought for its appraised value, SUNY would still take a $300 million loss.
