Lawmakers To Sue Over Hospital Closing

A group of New York lawmakers plan to sue the state Department of Health on behalf of a Brooklyn hospital that is fighting to stay open.

A senator of Brooklyn, Martin Golden, a City Councilman, Vincent Gentile, and Rep. Vito Fossella announced yesterday that they plan to file a lawsuit to preserve Victory Memorial Hospital's emergency room. Last year, the Berger Commission recommended that Victory and four other city hospitals shut down.

Reached by telephone yesterday, a spokesman for the department, Claudia Hutton, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Also yesterday, the New York State Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal filed on behalf of New York Westchester Square Medical Center, another hospital recommended for closure by the Berger Commission. In a statement, lawyers for the beleaguered Bronx hospital expressed disappointment.