Crains New York Business reported today that, get this, “The impasse that blocked a new urgent care center serving the neighborhood around St. Vincent’s Hospital has been broken by leaving bankrupt Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers out of the equation.” Representatives worked diligently on the original proposal to locate the urgent care center in the hospital’s former Emergency Department,
Meanwhile, while all this — pardon my French — bullshit is happening behind the scenes, sick people that the great old hospital used to care for are left without a good local healthcare center to go to quickly in case of emergencies.
More bullshit. Get this: ”Restrictions placed by SVCMC held up the urgent care center, which the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System originally had hoped would open next week. But SVCMC wanted to hold the health center to Catholic directives on birth control, and tried to negotiate a high rent and rigorous lease terms for space in the former emergency department.” Who says religion isn’t the single biggest scourge on civilization?
Instead, the North Shore-LIJ system and VillageCare struck what’s called a clinical affiliation agreement to deliver health services in lower Manhattan, including an urgent care center that could open in the early fall if approved by the state. I say good for LIJ. North Shore-LIJ said it will collaborate with VillageCare to enhance the existing primary care services at the site, adding outpatient pediatric care, imaging services and sub-specialty care such as urology, cardiology, neurology and ear, nose and throat.
The affiliation also provides a new referral base for VillageCare’s services, including adult day health care, day treatment, short-stay rehabilitation and palliative care. Renovations will start once the proposal receives state approval.
I wish them lots of success in this venture. In my discussions with many New York personal injury lawyers over the years, I have rarely, if ever, heard a bad word said about the old St. Vincents. And, these folks are the ones who really know the good places from the bad.