Manhattan’s St. Vincent’s Hospital Lays Off 1,000 Staffers

Bankrupt St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan laid off 1,000 staffers Monday and the facility was nearly empty of patients, the New York Times reports.

A statement from the hospital said the layoffs came “as part of a safe and orderly wind-down of operations.”

According to the Times, the hospital stopped receiving 911 calls last week and, as of Monday, there were only 51 beds filled in spread over two departments.

St. Vincent employees displaced by the layoffs were invited to attend a job fair on Thursday and Friday at the hospital, the statement said.  According to the story, Monday’s layoffs equated to about one-third of the hospital staff.

There is some controversy surrounding the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital, as papers have been filed in State Supreme Court fighting the closure. Lawyer Yetta Kurland argued St. Vincent’s broke state law by beginning to close without final approval for its closing plan from the State Department of Health.

“That is unthinkable, and we need to immediately stop that,” Kurland told the Times.

In its bankruptcy filing, St. Vincent’s said it has more than $1 billion in liabilities and has only been able to make payroll through emergency loans from state lenders.