New Parkway appeal denied

The New Parkway Hospital is at dead end, now that an appellate court has refused to extend an order allowing the Forest Hills facility to remain open past a state-ordered closing date.
A four-judge panel of the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in Brooklyn declined the 251-bed, for-profit hospital’s request on Wednesday, October 22, according to a clerk at the court.
“At this point, we haven’t been officially notified,” said Fred Stewart, a Parkway spokesperson, when reached by phone that day.
Stewart surmised that the beleaguered hospital, which recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, would “probably go back to Queens Supreme Court to see if they will give us an extension” of the temporary restraining order against the New York State Commissioner on Healthcare Facilities, who officially ordered the closing.
The trouble began with a report issued in November, 2006 by the “Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century,” better known as the “Berger Report.”
It declared that the hospital, located at 70-44 Grand Central Parkway, should “close in an orderly fashion,” based on a study that found Parkway was “not an essential hospital” and that “Surrounding hospitals can absorb the acute care demand.”
Nevertheless, the final report ordered Parkway to close.
“We’re discussing it with the New York State Department of Health,” Stewart said.
Claudia Hutton, director for public affairs for the state Health Department, said, “Our analysis shows that their beds are not needed. They and the general public have known since November of 2006 that they needed to close.”
“Some hospitals hoped that the Legislature would undo the findings of the report. They did not,” Hutton said.
“It’s time for Parkway to recognize that it is time to close.”