LICH has 11 patients left; SUNY faces probe by Brooklyn DA and State AG; “Funeral march” across Brooklyn Bridge planned today
The drama continues for anyone affiliated with Long Island College Hospital (LICH) and SUNY Downstate Medical Center. This week saw multiple protests and rallies in Brooklyn and Manhattan, a “funeral march” across the Brooklyn Bridge, more cutbacks and restrictions on patient services, another Brooklyn State Supreme Court temporary restraining order, State Health Department approval of SUNY’s proposal to close LICH, seven offers from potential buyers for LICH, a lawsuit against SUNY, restriction of services at LICH’s Operating Department, staff termination letters, revelations that LICH/SUNY administrators used LICH-specific endowments to finance loans and other expenses, and dual investigations by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office and State Attorney General’s office into possible criminal culpability by administrators.
Although some see the back-and-forth as only prolonging the inevitable closure and selling of LICH’s real estate, estimated at valuing over $500 million, LICH supporters show no signs of slowing down their social, political, and legal efforts to keep LICH—and other Brooklyn hospitals, such as Interfaith Medical Center—open.
For everyone involved in the Save LICH and Save Interfaith communities, “we know it’s a matter of life or death,” said Jeff Strabone, who is a board member of the Cobble Hill Association, which has been advocating on behalf of LICH for months.