By Cynthia Koons
The hospital company approved the sale of the Flushing facility last week, St. Vincent's officials said, after announcing in April that it could not afford to maintain St. Joseph's without spending $40 million to renovate it.
St. Vincent's Chief Executive Officer David Speltz met with members of the St. Joseph's Community Advisory Board last week to explain St. Vincent's rationale for closing the facility.
“Were we able to save St. Joseph's? No,” said Ken Cohen, chairman of the community advisory board. “It was made very clear to us that the St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers group, their intent is to close the hospital.”
Cohen, along with at least 100 other community members and hospital workers, has protested against the closing of St. Joseph's, located at 158-40 79th Ave. on the border of Flushing and Fresh Meadows.
In the fall, St. Vincent's said it was seeking a new operator for St. Joseph's and by April, after officials said it was apparent that no other hospital company was interested in making an offer, plans to close were announced.
“The board has now voted to put it on the market,” Pat Wardell, the interim director of the hospital, said. “We're having an appraisal done.”
He said the company was not yet aware of how much the property was worth.
The hospital sits on a parcel of land that is zoned for residential use.
Because the hospital has established ophthalmology and podiatry departments that serve the elder population of Hillcrest, Fresh Meadows and south Flushing, Wardell said it would be ideal for St. Vincent's to maintain those programs in the community.
“If someone would buy the property and lease us that space, that would suit us,” he said. “We don't know right now whether anyone would be interested in doing that.”
Cohen said that from the meeting he did not get the feeling the hospital was going to work hard to maintain those departments.
“They are looking to place (their specialty departments) in other hospitals in the other facilities, Mary Immaculate, St. John's,” Cohen said. “This is what they've been saying all along. They have promised that they would look to place some of the facilities in the community. I'm not sure that's going to happen.”
St. Joseph's has a 24-hour emergency room, an in-patient psychiatric unit, cancer care, a cardiovascular center, a comprehensive HIV department, a wound center and hyperbaric chamber.
It is one of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers' seven hospitals, in addition to St. John's and Mary Immaculate in Queens and four other facilities in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester.
“We did hear from him in his words (that) they're in a very serious financial situation,” Cohen said. “We are looking to meet with the elected officials right now.”
A spokeswoman for Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) said the meeting helped clarify discrepancies between what the community advisory board and hospital officials were saying.
“They can't afford to keep it open,” she said. “Everyone wants it to remain a medical facility, whether it's a hospital or a medical office or a medical condominium.”
Plans for the property will be determined after the state Board of Health approves the hospital property sale and a buyer steps in.
“In all, it was a good meeting,” she said. For the community, Speltz helped them “go through the process of acceptance” with the impending closure of St. Joseph's, she said.
Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
