UPDATED STORY Community Hospital gains court victory By BRYAN F. YURCAN

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Vol. 46, # 29 | July 16, 2007

Feature Section

UPDATED STORY
Community Hospital gains court victory
By BRYAN F. YURCAN

Community Hospital at Dobbs Ferry has won a temporary injunction against New York state relating to a lawsuit it filed to keep the hospital open.

The lawsuit was filed by St. John’s Riverside Health Care system, of which Community Hospital is a part, after the state Commission on Health Care in the 21st Century recommended the hospital be closed.

The commission, headed by investment banker Stephen Berger, was formed by former Gov. George Pataki in 2005 with a mandate to “right size” the state’s health-care system, including nursing homes.

The decision, written by state Supreme Court Judge Orazio Bellantoni, means the state can’t implement the recommendations of the commission until a final court decision on the matter is made.

St. Johns’ lawsuit contends that the commission violated the state’s open meeting laws and deliberated in secrecy.

In the decision, Bellantoni said state public health law calls for the state to give “specific notice” to a health-care facility if its operating license is to be revoked or suspended.

“No specific notice was ever sent to Dobbs Ferry Hospital indicating that the commissioner of the Department of Health intends to hold an evidentiary hearing … to determine whether to close down said hospital,” the judge wrote.

But Jim Foy, president of St. John’s Riverside, is hoping to resolve the matter without further legal battles.

He said St. John’s has submitted a proposal to the state to give up its 50 operating beds and operating certificate, and continue its emergency room, and offer ambulatory and diagnostic services with 12 beds transferred from St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers.

“We hope we’re close to an agreement, but we don’t know,” said Foy, “There has been some discussion, but none recently.”