It’s another reprieve for Long Island College Hospital.
A Brooklyn judge ruled today that the State University of New York cannot close down the Cobble Hill hospital and ER because its board of trustees violated open meeting laws.
SUNY-Downstate took over the financially strapped facility in 2011 but wants to shut it down because LICH continues to lose massive amounts of money. A coalition of nurse and doctor’s groups said a closure wouldn’t be safe and sued to keep the hospital open.
“The ruling validates what nurses have been saying all along: SUNY acted unlawfully and irresponsibly when they voted to close our community hospital,” said Jill Furillo, executive director of the New York State Nurses Association, referring to a Feb. 7 closed-door meeting.
“It is this court’s determination that [SUNY]’s notice was so intentionally vague as to shield the public from the true purpose of the meeting,” Brooklyn Supreme Civil Court Judge Johnny Baynes wrote in his decision, slamming the process by which SUNY tried to shut down the facility, the only ER serving Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens.
Baynes also enjoined SUNY from moving forward with closing the hospital until they abide by the open meetings law.
SUNY cannot close LICH without approval by the Department of Health.
jsaul@nypost.com