9 Hospitals Proposed for Closing

Governor Pataki's commission to overhaul health care in New York is recommending the closure of nine hospitals in the state, according to an industry source. The source said the panel is calling for reducing the number of hospital beds by 4,100, a smaller cut than the hospital industry had feared.

As first reported in The New York Sun, the commission is calling for the closure of five hospitals in the city and is recommending that another hospital in Manhattan eliminate inpatient care. New York State has roughly 230 hospitals and 64,000 hospital beds.

The Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century is releasing its final report today and submitting it to the governor for approval. If the governor and lawmakers don't reject the report in its entirety by December 31, the panel's recommendations become law and are to be implemented in 18 months.

The nine hospitals slated for closure are, in Manhattan, St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital and Cabrini Medical Center; Victory Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn; New York Westchester Square Medical Center in the Bronx; the Parkway Hospital in Queens; Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital in Buffalo; Bellevue Woman's Hospital in the Albany capital region; Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry in Westchester County, and St. Joseph Hospital in Cheektowaga, according to the source.

Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital may lose its inpatient beds.