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SUNY Board Votes Again To Close Down Long Island College Hospital

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The State University of New York board of trustees has again voted to close down Long Island College Hospital.

The re-vote Tuesday by the board to close the financially strapped hospital in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn must still be approved by the New York State Health Department.

The hospital is run by SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

SUNY Board Votes Again To Close Down Long Island College Hospital

As 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported, the 250-bed hospital has flatlined. The board voted to close the hospital within the next three months, and layoff notices are expected to go out within days.

"As a physician, and you nurses understand this – sometimes, we make a sacrifice," said Dr. John Williams, president of SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Williams said closing the hospital will save SUNY millions, and stabilize the finances at Downstate Medical Center, also in Brooklyn.

Still, registered nurse Julie Semente wondered why Long Island College Hospital has to be closed.

"Our community does need it, and our community cannot afford to lose it," she said. "Give it to someone else."

SUNY Board Chairman Carl McCall said the board has tried to find another operator. In the end, the vote to close the hospital was unanimous.

Last week, a state Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn deferred the closing of the hospital, saying SUNY trustees violated the state's Open Meetings Law by holding a private committee meeting the day before a public vote in February.

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