State Cuts Budget of Venerable Greenwich Village Hospital

I realize that a bad economy hurts everyone.  But it shouldn't hurt the people who are already suffering from injury and illness and need proper care.  News that St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan has laid off 180 employees made me wonder if such a move will end up costing the venerable hospital more money than it will save?

Studies show that the ratio of nurses to patients in city hospitals greatly effects the number of malpractice law suits a hospital is hit with.  The lower the ratio the better a hospital performs, which results in fewer cases being filed against the institution.

St. Vincent’s, with 366 beds, is a major presence in Greenwich Village and the latest among a handful of community hospitals in New York City and the surrounding area to lay off workers in recent months. The hospital came out of bankruptcy two years ago, and it continues to carry some debt, Mr. Fagan said.

The Greater New York Hospital Association, a trade group, had projected last month that 12,000 health care jobs would be lost if Gov. David A. Paterson’sproposed cuts were adopted; ultimately, the state budget cuts were smaller than initially proposed.

“You can’t cut health care seven times in two years and not expect there to be consequences,” Brian Conway, a spokesman for the trade group, said Tuesday. “We have said time and again that hospitals have no room left to absorb additional cuts, and we’re deeply concerned that what happened at Saint Vincent’s today is just the tip of the iceberg.”