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University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital

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University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital (or LICH) was a 506-bed teaching hospital located in the Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. It ceased operations on August 30, 2014.[1]

University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital
Long Island College Hospital, 2010
Map
Geography
LocationBrooklyn, Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods, New York, United States
Services
Beds508
History
Opened1858
ClosedAugust 30, 2014
Links
ListsHospitals in New York State

History

 
Polhemus Memorial Clinic c. 1897

Founded in 1858, the Long Island College Hospital introduced the practice of bedside teaching in 1860, and it later became the first U.S. hospital to use stethoscopes and anesthesia. In 1873 it introduced the first emergency ambulance service in Brooklyn. Its collegiate division would later form the Downstate Medical Center, an academic unit of the State University of New York in 1948.

The Polhemus Memorial Clinic, an eight-story 1897 tower that was part LICH until July 2008, is considered to be the first example of skyscraper hospital, anywhere in the world.[2]

The hospital was affiliated with the Continuum Health Partners.[3]

Merger and closure

Merger

On May 27, 2011, Long Island College Hospital became part of SUNY Downstate's University Hospital of Brooklyn, renamed as University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital, serving as a clinical campus for medical students in the Downstate College of Medicine.[4]

Closure

On February 8, 2013, the Trustees of the State University of New York voted to close the hospital.[5] A re-vote by the State University of New York board of trustees was taken on March 19, 2013, who again voted to close down the hospital.[6] On April 1, 2013, for a second time the closing of the hospital was stalled in court.[7]

On July 19, 2013, the New York State Department of Health approved SUNY Downstate Medical Center's plan to close the hospital, which calls for all remaining patients to be transferred or discharged on or before July 28. The plan also calls for the hospital to stop admitting patients from its emergency department on July 22, and calls for the hospital's elective surgery schedule to be canceled, effective the same day. According to the plan, LICH continued to operate its emergency department until July 29[4] and did not close July 28 as planned. A state supreme court justice upheld a temporary restraining order preventing SUNY Downstate from shutting it down, and ordered both sides back to court on July 31 to decide its future.[8]

As a way of maintaining the hospital, SUNY issues an RFP on July 17, 2013 to seek bids from developers who could turn the property into a profitable venture through mixed use real estate projects while maintaining medical services for the community.[9]

On August 20, 2013, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Carolyn Demarest ordered the closure of the hospital to be stalled, citing a breach in the agreement by SUNY Downstate, concluding that SUNY "didn't buy the 18-building complex in the heart of downtown Brooklyn in good faith.".[10] While bids were due for the RFP in September, lawsuits were stalling the effort to find a new plan for the hospital and community medical services. Three days prior to the bids being due, a NY State judge invalidated the effort to sell the property.[11][12]

Bid process and development plans

Once the lawsuits were settled, the bids were reviewed and a winning bidder emerged, Louis Kestenbaum's Fortis Property Group. The initial Fortis proposal offered SUNY about half of the estimated $500 million value—for the 200,000-square-foot complex, of which 15,000 square feet would be made into a facility with an urgent care center, physical therapy center, dental and other surgery space, but no emergency room and no full-use hospital.[13] At the time, mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio opposed the Fortis plan because it did not contain a full hospital and had too much luxury housing compared to what the neighborhood could accommodate.[14] Community organizations and SUNY decided to withdraw the bids and reopen the process to capture bids that would give the "community what it wanted".[14] As a result, Brooklyn Hospital made a bid for the property that included 1,000 housing units, 1/3 of them to be "affordable", an outpatient medical facility and a 24-hour emergency services department.[15]

In January 2014, SUNY called for revamped bids to reflect the wants of the community and expectations of SUNY.[16][17] The winning bidder of the 2014 bidding process was Brooklyn Health Partners,[18] which said it would operate a 300- to 400-bed hospital on the site. Skeptics doubted that the deal would be signed by the required date in May 2014. One of BHP's former partners claimed that BHP miscalculated "the cost of renovations needed at the site, in order to accommodate a facility with up to 400 beds."[19] The New York Times, as well as Capital New York, a New York City-based political online publication, noted consistencies in the bidding process. The Times noted that the winning bed went to "an obscure development group, Brooklyn Health Partners, which has never built anything in New York or tossed up anything remotely as complex as a hospital"[20] while Capital New York stated that evaluators were inconsistent in their evaluations, having "awarded drastically different scores to several bidders even when their thoughts on a proposal were very similar."[21]

On May 5, SUNY issued a notice stating that Brooklyn Health Partners failed to complete the terms of the agreement and had decided to move on to the next highest bidder.[22] BHP suggested that it would sue SUNY to prevent it from negotiating with the runner-up.[23] The following day, SUNY began negotiating with The Peebles Corporation.[24] BHP had gone to court to stop that process and asked the judge, New York State Supreme Court justice Johnny Lee Baynes, to give them more time.[25] Then, another lawsuit was filed by Brooklyn-based six community groups, represented by activist lawyer Jim Walden of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; Walden asked Baynes to disallow the scores given by six individuals on the LICH scoring committee.[24][26] On May 15, Justice Baynes returned a ruling declaring that SUNY negotiate with the four bidders, but that his ruling does not impact SUNY's ability to continue finalizing the agreement with Peebles's team,[27] to which the New York Post called the actions of the judge, "lunacy".[28]

New development

A new development of seven towers was revealed in 2015. The development was to be constructed by Fortis Property Group and known as River Park. It was initially controversial because its high-rise design would have clashed with the mostly low-rise nature of the surrounding neighborhood, and residents were concerned that there would not be sufficient replacement medical facilities. Construction started in 2017 with expected completion through 2023.[29] In 2018, renderings of the towers were released. The tallest tower, the 475-foot 2 River Park, would be one of the tallest buildings in Brooklyn when finished.[30][31]

References

  1. ^ "LICH Updates," SUNY Downstate Medical University website. Accessed: February 4, 2015.
  2. ^ Korom, Joseph (2008). The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940. Branden Books. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-8283-2188-4. Gillender Building. pp. 222
  3. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (October 10, 2014). "Merger Will Save Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, Officials Say". The New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Nurses Roam Empty Halls as Long Island College Hospital Is Prepared to Close," New York Times. Accessed: July 19, 2013.
  5. ^ Long Island College Hospital to close New York Daily News
  6. ^ "SUNY Board Votes Again To Close Down Long Island College Hospital". CBS New York. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  7. ^ "Closing Of Long Island College Hospital Stalled Once Again In Court". NY1. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  8. ^ "Long Island College Hospital Remains Open As Legal Jousting Continues". NY1. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  9. ^ SUNY, Downstate. "Request for Proposal X002539/SUNY Downstate - LICH" (PDF). Brooklyn Heights Association. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  10. ^ Kusisto, Laura (August 20, 2013). "Judge Upends Closure of Long Island College Hospital". Wall Street Journal.
  11. ^ Brush, Pete (September 13, 2013). "Judge Invalidates SUNY's Latest LICH-Closure Proposal". Law 360.
  12. ^ Brush, Pete (October 15, 2013). "SUNY Plan To Close Ailing Brooklyn Hospital Ruled Invalid". Law 360.
  13. ^ Chin, Heather (December 18, 2013). "LICH trustees put off vote on sale to condo/medical mall developer". Brooklyn Spectator.
  14. ^ a b Karni, Anni (January 13, 2013). "Brooklyn Hospital, developer offer to buy cash-strapped Long Island College Hospital".
  15. ^ Benson, Barbara (January 8, 2014). "Brooklyn Hospital makes bid for LICH". Crain's.
  16. ^ Frost, Mary (February 3, 2014). "Developers submit second round of LICH bids to SUNY". Brooklyn Heights Press/Daily Eagle.
  17. ^ McCabe, Kevin (January 29, 2014). "Long Island College Hospital bidding process reopens". News 12 Long Island.
  18. ^ Kusisto, Laura (April 3, 2014). "Winning Bid Sees a Future for Long Island College Hospital". Wall Street Journal.
  19. ^ Maurer, Mark (April 28, 2014). "Brooklyn Health estimate for Cobble Hill hospital way off: suit". Real Deal and Crain's.
  20. ^ Powell, Michael (April 28, 2014). "Reconsidering the Saviors of a Hospital". New York Times.
  21. ^ Dan Goldberg and, Laura Nahmias (April 28, 2014). "The odd math behind the LICH bidding process". Capital New York.
  22. ^ Pincus, Adam (May 5, 2014). "Top bidder rejected for Cobble Hill hospital redevelopment". The Real Deal.
  23. ^ Frost, Mary (May 6, 2014). "Rejected LICH bidder to sue SUNY on Tuesday in Brooklyn". Brooklyn Eagle.
  24. ^ a b Dailey, Jessica (May 6, 2014). "LICH Rejects Winning Developer, Gets Hit With New Lawsuit". Curbed.
  25. ^ Frost, Mary (May 9, 2014). "Brooklyn Health Partners still in the game? $25 million check returned late Friday". Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
  26. ^ Frost, Mary (May 8, 2014). "Legal action over SUNY scoring could shake up LICH bids in Brooklyn". Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
  27. ^ Goldberg, Dan. "Ruling throws LICH process into (further) chaos".
  28. ^ Editorial (May 18, 2014). "You be the judge". New York Post.
  29. ^ Hughes, C. J. (April 14, 2017). "Condo Project at Former Hospital Site Moves Forward in Brooklyn". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  30. ^ "New renderings of towers in Long Island College Hospital redevelopment are released". Archpaper.com. June 11, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  31. ^ Plitt, Amy (June 8, 2018). "New looks at Cobble Hill's LICH-replacing River Park development". Curbed NY. Retrieved June 10, 2019.

Further reading

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Long Island College Hospital.

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