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HOSPITAL CRISIS: St. Vincent’s troubles led to two shutdowns

HOSPITAL CRISIS: St. Vincent’s troubles led to two shutdowns

2000 — St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan merges with Catholic Medical Centers of Brooklyn and Queens, bringing together eight hospitals across the city.

November 2003 — St. Vincent’s announces it will relinquish ownership of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Flushing. St. Joseph’s begins to seek a new owner.

July 2004 — After administrators announce plans to close St. Joseph’s, Dr. Thomas Aquino of Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills expresses interest in buying the facility. No deal is reached.

September 2004 — St. Joseph’s winds down its operations and closes its doors.

July 2005 — St. Vincent’s files for bankruptcy and agrees to sell St. John’s and Mary Immaculate hospitals. Parkway Hospital, which is not owned by St. Vincent’s, also petitions to file bankruptcy proceedings.

November 2006 — Wyckoff Hospital purchases St. John’s and Mary Immaculate for $36 million, forming Caritas Health Care to manage the facilities.

March 2007 — Caritas seeks a $6 million loan from the state as it struggles with its finances. Its CEO pledges the health system will be solvent by June. The state begins issuing $6 million loans to the hospitals every two weeks.

April 2007 — St. Vincent’s sues Caritas for failing to pay $5.1 million to vendors, threatening its own emergence from bankruptcy. St. Vincent’s drops the suit a month later.

November 2008 — Parkway Hospital is closed down by the state Health Department as part of the Berger Commission recommendations.

January 2009 — Caritas Health Care announces it will seek bankruptcy protection. St. John’s and Mary Immaculate petition the state for $36 million to continue operating while developing restructuring plans. The state turns them down.

February 2009 — St. John’s and Mary Immaculate shut their doors for good, capping off three months that saw the loss of 600 hospital beds in Queens.

May 2009 — Caritas puts the two hospitals up for auction.

October 2009 — A Brooklyn real estate firm buys the St. John’s and Mary Immaculate properties.

December 2009 — The Brooklyn firm sells Mary Immaculate to another developer.

January 2010 — Continuum Health Partners announces interest in purchasing St. Vincent’s — now $700 million in debt — and transforming it from a hospital to an outpatient center.

February 2010 — Continuum withdraws its offer as St. Vincent’s seeks other offers. Gov. David Paterson pledges $6 million to help keep the hospital running and publicly seeks partners for financial support.