By Healthcare Facilities Today

A combination of economics and health trends could lead to the closing of a series of large hospitals in Brooklyn, N.Y.

One of those hospitals, Interfaith Medical Center, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, has been in bankruptcy proceedings since December, expects to halt inpatient admissions in September and end outpatient procedures a month later.

Long Island College Hospital, in the Cobble Hill neighborhood, is at the center of a legal battle between the State University of New York, which wants to close the institution, and hospital employees and community groups.

Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick could also be in financial trouble. The hospital had a surplus of $3.8 million in 2012 after years of losing millions of dollars a year. But the CEO says that it will be tough for the hospital to break even this year and next.

A report by Kaiser Health News says that at least nine hospitals in the city have closed in the past six years.  Two were acquired by other healthcare systems and turned into outpatient facilities. Most of the shuttered facilities served poor communities.

A year ago, the state of New York applied for a Medicaid waiver that would bring $10 billion to the state, some of which could aid Brooklyn’s healthcare system. But the state has received no response to its request.

The chairman of state commission that looked at the healthcare delivery system in Brooklyn says that the system has to be transformed into one that offers more outpatient care along with smaller inpatient facilities. The report recommended consolidation of existing institutions, but so far talks about mergers have produced no results.

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