A building that used to house hospital staff of the defunct St. Vincent's hospital has been sold, according to the The Real Deal. Stonehenge Partners bought the red brick blight-on-the-history-of-architecture for $67 million, and plans to somehow transform it into appealing rental apartments. The gut-renovation will be done by the Office for Design & Architecture firm. Don't be mislead by the absurdly generic name; the Observer reports this firm is behind the dramatic and rather terrible "glassing" of the Union Square Tiffany & Co. building. The former St. Vincent's building, on Sixth Ave between 15th and 16th St, will most likely look absolutely nothing like it does now once ODA is through with it. more ›

And now we know why they shut down. A group of former St. Vincent's employees filed a lawsuit today claiming the hospital lied about their debt because higher-ups were spending millions on themselves. The hospital allegedly spent $104 million on "other" costs, including a $278,000 golf trip. Attorney Thomas D. Shanahan told NY1, "The public deserves better than to hear a hospital was 'bankrupt' under a crushing $1 billion debt, when it seems they had substantial public monies coming in and that the hospital was mismanaged." St. Vincent's hospital closed in April, citing $1 billion in debt. About 3,500 people lost their jobs. more ›

In the days since the official closing of St. Vincent's hospital, locals have transformed the shuttered doors into a shrine to the former West Village institution. The doors are adorned with poetry, notes, drawings, and even a dedication to "the crooks complicit in the murder of this hospital and the politicians who turned their backs." Many just recall their time spent in St. Vincent's. The hospital officially closed on April 30th after being open for 160 years. more ›

Yesterday, hundreds of people protested the closing of St. Vincent's, the Greenwich Village hospital whose financial troubles have caused its downfall. They carried a coffin that said "No ER = DOA" from 25th Street and 9th Avenue to the hospital at 7th Avenue and 12th Street while demonstrators said, "Many people are going to die because of this," and "Save our hospital!" while recounting how the hospital saved their lives. more ›

Yetta Kurland, a civil rights lawyer who ran an unsuccessful challenge for Council Speaker Quinn's seat last year, has filed a lawsuit to keep St. Vincent's Hospital open. According to NY1, Kurland "says closing the hospital violates New York State health laws" and that "the state Health Department has not yet approved St. Vincent's closure plan." She also wants a look at St. Vincent's financials, "The issue should be framed as to why St Vincent's is so rapidly doing this without any kind of public comment, and without any kind of disclosure, or transparency." However, the state says it's given St. Vincent's approval on its wind-down plans. On Monday, St. Vincent's laid off 1,000 workers and the psychiatry service in the ER was "placed on permanent diversion" yesterday. more ›

Now that St. Vincent's hospital has delivered its last baby and is closing for good, displaced Greenwich Village patients have been flooding Beth Israel hospital across town. According to the Daily News, Beth Israel has seen a 25% increase in walk-in patients in the week since St. Vincent's shut down, and daily admissions are at an all time high. Beth Israel also got hit with twice their average number of ambulances two days after St. Vincent's stopped accepting them. more ›

St. Vincent's Hospital, which is winding down its operations before it closes for good, delivered its last baby. Abigail Jancu was born at 4:58 a.m. yesterday morning, about 18 hours after parents Anastasia and Robert Juncu checked into the hospital. Their midwife called to let them know they would need to come on Wednesday at 9 a.m. to deliver the baby. Robert Jancu told City Room, "They said, if you come here early in the morning, we’ll get you in, but we’re closing down." more ›

Yesterday, St. Vincent's Hospital announced, "We have issued termination (WARN) notices to all employees of St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan today as required by state and federal law. The action came after the Board of Saint Vincent’s voted to close the hospital’s inpatient services and to seek a transfer of some or all of the outpatient services, after an effort to save the financially troubled 160-year old institution. Employees jobs will end based upon the needs of the hospital as it moves forward with an orderly and safe wind down of operations. The Board and management are extremely grateful for the dedication and professionalism of all St. Vincent employees, some of whom have been with us for decades, during this very difficult process." more ›

Yesterday, St. Vincent's announced that starting today, "St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan emergency department, in coordination with the NYS Department of Health and FDNY EMS, will be placed on permanent diversion of ambulances for all services except for behavioral health. The ED will remain fully functional with the ability to treat and admit all walk-in patients as needed.” Instead, ambulances will take patients to Beth-Israel, Roosevelt, NY Downtown or Bellevue. more ›

After St. Vincent's announced it would close its Greenwich Village location, there are hopes that some of its services will still exist. The Daily News reports, "At least two health care companies - Mount Sinai Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners, which operates Beth Israel - are still in talks to take over the emergency department and crucial community clinics. 'There are still health care facilities interested,' an insider told the Daily News. 'That part of the hospital is not dead yet, but it's not out of the woods, either.'" more ›

The board of directors of St. Vincent's Medical Centers decided to close its Greenwich Village location, after months of trying to find a way to stay afloat. According to a press release (see below), all "inpatient services including all acute, rehab, and behavioral health" will be closed, but "the other facilities and programs"—like its Cancer Center and the HIV/AIDS Center—"of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers will continue as the organization seeks new sponsorship to operate them as continuing service providers." more ›

All may not be lost yet for Greenwich Village's St. Vincent's hospital. According to Crain's, Mount Sinai hospital is in talks to buy St. Vincent's, and is currently performing due diligence to see whether they would want to take on the burden of dealing with St. Vincent's $700 million debt and the poor facilities. They have until April 30th to make a decision. more ›

After getting a $6 million bail-out from the state—enough to hold it over until it had made “a decision about whether to file for bankruptcy"—St. Vincent’s hospital is slowing to a stop. It’s used the loan to settle employees’ salaries and other costs, but the conversation at a meeting on Friday suggested that there’s not enough to make it into next week. To buy more time, the Greenwich Village landmark facility would need $20 million, so one by one its eliminating its programs and services. more ›

After being hospitalized for an apparent suicide attempt, Billy Joel's daughter Alexa Ray Joel is "feeling much better," her publicist told People. more ›

Doctors at St. Vincent's Hospital exposed a Washington Heights woman to the HIV virus when they used dirty medical equipment, a lawsuit alleges. more ›

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-1 yesterday to approve St Vincent's controversial plans to build a 203-foot-tall, 16-story condo (right) on the east side of Seventh Avenue, between West 11th and West 12th Streets, in the Greenwich Village historic district. It's a big win for St. Vincent's over community outcry about the project's scale, and the hospital is counting on the condo deal to help fund the $830 million, 286-foot-tall medical building that will replace the doomed landmark O'Toole building. But in a concession to the commission, St Vincent's and partner Rudin Management agreed to shrink the condo 15 feet, so now the local gadflies have nothing to complain about! Oh, except for Andrew Berman at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; he tells City Room, "It’s certainly not over." So maybe we'll get some more celebrity outrage? The plan to raze the sawtooth O'Toole building still faces a legal challenge, and the entire $1.63 billion project also needs approval from he City Council and the City Planning Commission. more ›

The Giants might not be sure who will step up and lead their receiving corps next season, but at least we know that baby catchers should be well-supported at the just announced new birthing center at St. Vincent's Hospital, named after Eli Manning and his wife Abby. The newlyweds don't have any children yet themselves, but are helping to bankroll what the News calls a "state-of-the-art center focusing on natural childbirth and holistic care" at the hospital which has one of the lowest C-section rates in the city. The quarterback said, "We're enjoying being married right now. There's no exact plan, but we do plan on starting a family in the future." The construction of the Eli and Abby Manning Birthing Center will take place over the next five years and cost $10 million. Manning said, "We wanted to make it a special place to bring new life into the world." more ›

The Sun has it that their new pitch would still demolish the O’Toole building, but the new hospital would be 9% shorter than previous plans, rising to less than 300 feet. Rudin Management Co., which would buy eight buildings from the hospital to finance the project, would also build a somewhat smaller luxury condominium once they tear down the buildings – it would drop to 233 feet from 265 feet and be 60 feet less wide. Rudin would also spare four of the purchased buildings. more ›

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Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission is holding a public hearing to consider the largest proposal in its 43-year history: An application by the St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center to demolish eight structures in Greenwich Village on West 11th and 12th Streets, near Seventh Avenue, and construct an $800 million, 21-story, 329-foot-tall hospital and condominium tower. Falling to the wrecking ball would be the 1963 O’Toole Building which houses the hospital. The plans are strongly opposed by local residents, The Municipal Art Society, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff:

It’s historical censorship. The O’Toole Building was one of the first buildings in the city to break with the Modernist mainstream as it was congealing into formulaic dogma… It represents a moment when some architects rebelled against Modernism’s glass-box aesthetic in favor of ornamental facades… In patronizing fashion, hospital officials have suggested that preservationists are choosing buildings over lives, as if the two were in direct opposition. This is the kind of developer’s cant that is ruining our city. The addition of up to 400 co-op apartments is about money, not saving lives. There are plenty of other ways that the hospital could upgrade its facilities.