Consultants, Lawyers, Others Made Big Money out of St. Vincent's Demise

From Crains New York Business.

Bankrupt St. Vincent's pays millions in fees

Law firms, investment banks, accountants, real estate brokers and other advisers in the shuttered hospital system's dissection have been paid about $17 million since last year's bankruptcy filing.

By Barbara Benson

Published: May 10, 2011 - 3:09 pm

The profits that eluded Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers when the hospital was alive are being realized after its death—by a small army of law firms, investment banks and advisers. Just over a year after it filed for bankruptcy protection, SVCMC has paid out about $17 million in fees to lawyers, accountants, investment bankers and real estate brokers.

Just last week, the judge overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings signed off on the latest round of fees billed by professionals working on the case. The tab: $5,460,793.

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel took in $2,706,986 for its work as bankruptcy counsel for the final quarter of 2010. The law firm voluntarily discounted its fees by 10% in recognition of St. Vincent's charitable mission. The law firm's write-offs came to more than $350,000 for the three-month period, according to court documents.

Other big earners were investment adviser Cain Brothers & Co., which netted $701,000, and law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, representing the creditors committee, which was awarded fees of $488,024. Garfunkel Wild, which also discounted its fees by at least 10%, took in $409,398. CBIZ Accounting Tax and Advisory of New York and CBIZ Inc. billed $381,621.

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Full Story at http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110510/FREE/110519987

The Westside Healthcare Coalition is a Lie

Lower West Side residents have been receiving some interesting astroturf in their mailboxes lately. It's from a group called The "Westside Healthcare Coalition". Trouble is, they don't exist. They're just a front for the real estate developers that want to build luxury condos where we need a hospital.

Don't fall for it.

West Side Healthcare Coalition is a Lie

Statement on Today's Court Decision

Statement from the
Coalition for a New Village Hospital's attorney Yetta Kurland

We were disappointed, but not surprised by today's Court decision. While we disagree with the Court's determination, this is just the first of a number of hurdles that the Rudins will have to overcome to purchase and develop the St. Vincent's campus.The Coalition for a New Village Hospital stays principled in our stand and unwavering in our position that this community requires nothing less than a full service hospital. We will continue to unite the community toward that objective. Our April 30th rally will be a testament to the community's desire for a hospital. At the same time, we are prepared to work wiith Rudin Management and North Shore-LIJ to achieve that goal.

Delay Approval of the Rudin, North Shore LIJ Condo Deal

For: The Coalition For A New Village Hospital

Media Contact: Steven Greene

For Immediate Release

Delay Approval of the Rudin, North Shore LIJ Condo Deal

New York, NY – April 7, 2011 – The Coalition for A New Village Hospital called on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court today to delay approval of the proposed sale of former St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center site to RSV LLC, an affiliate of Rudin Management.

Said Yetta Kurland of the 7,000 member Coalition, “While recent court decisions prevent us from filing objections to the proposed sale of the St. Vincent’s property to the Rudin Management Company, we stand firm in our conviction that this community is in urgent need of a full-service emergency room and in-patient hospital. The current plan offered by Rudin Management and North Shore-LIJ falls far short of that goal. “

On April 6, The Southern District Court reaffirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s decision to bar attorneys for the Coalition from “taking any actions and otherwise proceeding in furtherance of or in connection with” related to the allegations in their earlier state court action.

Said Dr. David Kaufman, “We are fully prepared to work with Rudin Management and North Shore-LIJ Group or any other qualified buyer toward the realization of a hospital. If necessary, it would be in the best interests of the community and the creditors to re-open bidding to additional qualified buyers committed to a new hospital.”

On March 10, the Rudin Management firm announced they had partnered with North Shore-LIJ to with plans to build a walk-in emergency facility and hundreds of luxury apartments in place of the full service in-patient hospital. Community members have protested the plans citing a number of health concerns and efforts by other jurisdictions that already offer free standing emergency rooms to introduce legislation banning them because of these concerns as well as exorbitant costs associated such facilities.

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WARNING! The North Shore-LIJ “Emergency Department” Plan May Be Hazardous To Your Health

For: The Coalition For A New Village Hospital

Media Contact: Steven Greene

For Immediate Release

WARNING! The North Shore-LIJ “Emergency Department” Plan May Be Hazardous To Your Health

10 Ways North Shore-LIJ Gets It Wrong

1. The North Shore-LIJ “Emergency Department”may be dangerous to your health. The trip you take to an urgent care center can cost you vital minutes that make the difference between life and death. The chances of surviving a cardiac arrest declines by approximately 10% for each minute without defibrillation. At the new North Shore-LIJ urgent care center, it may be hours before examinations, blood tests and electrocardiograms reveal an acute heart attack. Whether the ambulance trip that follows is to Beth Israel Hospital or more than 4 miles to Lenox Hill, it would be too late for the emergency intervention available at a hospital. At the end of the day, their proposed “Emergency Department” is a lot like a “doc-in-the-box” urgent care center.

2. Free Standing “Emergency Departments” like the one planned by North Shore-LIJ can actually drive up medical costs. While they claim freestanding emergency rooms are less expensive to operate, there is growing evidence that they actually increase costs as the quality of healthcare declines. In states like Washington the legislature is considering putting a moratorium on using these facilities after seeing costs skyrocket.

3. You can’t take an ambulance there. How can it be a true Emergency Room if it doesn’t have ambulance services? Without large changes in laws and regulations, these types of facilities will not have ambulance service to bring in a patient. The reason: The managers of the 911 emergency system does not believe these independent ambulances are equipped to treat emergencies. To make the changes North Shore-LIJ is requesting will mean a ”freelance” ambulance system that operates separate and apart from the life-saving 911 system.

4. Emergency medical technicians will be forced to make decisions about what type of treatment you will receive before you see a doctor. If a patient calls 911, medics are going to have to make critical life decisions without the guidance of a medical doctor. If these medics are rushing patients to an “emergency room” unprepared for life-threatening emergencies, patients’ lives will be at risk.

5. It is an unregulated facility where patients without coverage can be turned away. Unlike hospital emergency departments that are obliged to accept all patients regardless of their ability to pay, private centers like the one planned by North Shore-LIJ, are legally allowed to turn away patients who have trouble paying for treatment. What’s more, they are not even required to hire union employees.

6. It will be in their interests to transfer you miles away to Lenox Hill. An emergency room helps cover its costs by admitting patients to the hospital. ERs are the major source of new admissions. It is widely understood that a “stand alone ER” like this one acts as a “feeder” to get patients. That would mean that assuming you did actually need care you wouldn’t receive it in your neighbourhood, but would be transferred by ambulance to North Shore-LIJ’s one and only NYC medical center, Lenox Hill Hospital, which is crosstown, and 4.09 miles away.

7. The emergency care they can’t provide is the care that matters most. NSLIJ claim this new “Emergency Department” will provide 95% of the care available at St. Vincent’s former ER. Importantly, that figure does not include the most important reasons patients rush to an emergency room -- acute stroke, heart attack, trauma, septic shock, respiratory failure, and other emergency events including those suffered by first responders from the World Trade Center.

8. This new Emergency Department” will treat 40% fewer patients annually in a community that’s doubled in size. Despite a doubling in the size of the community, the new center will treat only 35,000 patients per year versus 60,000 treated annually at the former St. Vincent’s.

9. Contrary to claims, St. Vincent’s was used by the majority of the community until the day it closed. In fact, St. Vincent's treated 55% of the local community in 2009, its last full year of operation, according to New York State data. This was true even while rumors were growing that the hospital would soon close.

10. A new hospital can be built at a fraction of the cost While NSLIJ claims building a new hospital could cost $2 million/bed, a global firm of engineers has estimated the cost of reinstating a hospital in the current Colman building at a fraction of the cost, and close to the cost as the\is proposed freestanding urgent care center.

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Winners and Losers

Winners and Losers in the Battle for Healthcare on the Lower West Side

Update from Attorney Yetta Kurland: Moving Forward

Dear Friends,

News came out earlier this month that a deal had been made, between the Rudin development organization and the remnants of St. Vincent’s Medical Center, for Rudin to purchase the old St. Vincent’s hospital for use as a condominium site, with a section to be set aside for an urgent care center.

The Coalition for a New Village Hospital stays principled in our fight for a hospital and unwavering in our position that the community needs nothing less than a full service level 1 trauma care hospital. But we see this proposal as an opportunity in that fight, and here’s why.

As New Yorkers we know that, where there’s a will, there’s a way. The defeat of the Westside Stadium, the success of Grand Central Station, and Central Park are monuments to our will as New Yorkers. There are others.

Yesterday evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that a potential buyer is seeking to block the Rudin sale in bankruptcy so it can build a full service hospital at the St. Vincent’s site.

Here on the Lower West Side, we have known since the wrongful closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital that there is a strong will among the residents of our community to have a new hospital to replace the one that was taken away from us. All of these recent developments are an acknowledgment of that will. There will be a medical facility at Seventh Avenue and 12th Street. This is the start of what can be a victory for all of us in our fight.

There remains however the critical question of what kind of a medical facility it will be.

We have been working on the political front to make clear to the Rudins, and to our elected officials, that if the Rudins and LIJ can get the building for free, and raise an additional $125 million, as they acknowledge, to build a brand new urgent care center, they can, for the same or similar cost, renovate the Coleman building to create a hospital.

We have been fighting on the legal front to force St. Vincent’s to be more transparent in their dealings, including their financials, for the New York State Department of Health to honor its responsibility to provide adequate healthcare for our community, for the Bankruptcy Court to recognize our right as members of the public for health care, and for our public officials to hold those responsible for this health crisis accountable and restore the vital resources our community needs.

To that end, I want to invite you to come on April 1st at 2pm in U.S. Southern District Court which is located at 500 Pearl Street, Room 14B (MAP) to watch oral arguments in our fight to allow the Coalition access to public records regarding the closure of St. Vincent’s hospital.

Also on April 7th at 11:00am the bankruptcy court at 1 Bowling Green, Room 701 (MAP) will hold a hearing on the request to approve the sale of the property to the Rudins. It is the Coalition’s position that such a sale would be a violation of New York State Non-Profit Corporation laws and U.S. Internal Revenue Code, both of which the bankruptcy court must recognize. In specific, a public asset, including the not for profit St. Vincent’s, cannot transfer assets to a private entity, like the Rudins, and a transfer like that proposed must continue the charitable mission of St. Vincent’s Hospital, which clearly luxury condominium units do not. You can read the letter we sent to the bankruptcy court regarding this here.

It has been and it remains the will of our people that this facility be a hospital, a real hospital -- with an emergency room, fully equipped to handle the cases that will come through its doors, with the inpatient rooms that will continue the care once the crisis has been met, and with the special services and departments that a community such as ours would require.

Built into the Rudin/St.Vincent’s/Long Island Jewish deal is the wherewithal to bring into being a New Village Hospital. If an “urgent care center” can be built, then a hospital can be built on the old site. Given the amount of money available from Federal and State funds to operate a hospital, over and above what would be available to operate an “urgent care center,” the economics of going the hospital route make more sense. Again, as always, it is a question of the will to do it.

It is now up to us as a community to transfer our will into a reality by making clear, to all the actors in this process, that we will not go away until we get what we need and deserve, a hospital.

To that end, please mark your calendars. April 30th. That’s the date when we will commemorate the one year anniversary of the wrongful closing of St. Vincent’s and redouble our efforts and resolve to demand a hospital for our community. Please download this flyer to put in your building, community center or school to let folks know. There will be a planning meeting for the rally on Wednesday March 30th at 6pm at the Church of the Village located on the corner of 7th Avenue and 13th Street (7th Ave entrance - MAP) and a fundraiser on Monday March 28th (see below or buy tickets here) at Fiddlesticks on Greenwich between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue (MAP).

Be there. Look for me. I’ll be looking for you.

In solidarity and towards a new village hospital,

Yetta Kurland


Coalition for a New Village Hospital: One Year Rally Poster


3-22 letter in re St. Vincent's

Community Board 1 Joins the Fight!

Manhattan's Community Board 1 joined their neighbor CB2 and The Coalition for a New Village Hospital in calling for a "land lock" on the old St. Vincent's site. Board Chair Julie Menin commended the Coalition's work to a packed meeting. Coalition members Yetta Kurland, Paul Newell and Jonathan Slaff all spoke to the Board.

As more and more community groups sign on to CNVH's mission, the tide on this issue is beginning to turn. CB1 passed the resolution unanimously on July 27th.

Manhattan Community Board 1 Resolution on St. Vincent's

COMMUNITY MEMBERS FILE APPEAL TO DEMAND THAT NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INVESTIGATE CLOSURE

OF ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL AND ENSURE NEW HOSPITAL AT THE SITE

Attorneys for community members of the West Village and Chelsea filed an appeal on Jul 19, 2010 to challenge the Bankruptcy Court's decision to deny community members the right to file suit against the Department of Health for allowing St. Vincent's Hospital to wrongfully close and for not ensuring a hospital replaced the 160 year medical institution. The Bankruptcy Judge claimed the suit would unfairly impact the distribution of assets to the creditors deciding it would "exercise control" over the assets.

Yetta Kurland, one of the attorneys representing the community members stated "This is not just about our fundamental right to health care, it is also about our fundamental right to due process. The Department of Health has an affirmative statutory obligation to ensure hospitals are closed properly. That means that the public needs to be properly protected in that process, which it was not here. It also means that the DOH has to ensure a continuation of the same services and ensure that this is place before it allows a hospital to close.

"But the Bankruptcy Court Judge told us that we could not proceed with our claim in New York State Court, not because we didn't have grounds, but because she wanted to retain jurisdiction on all matters related to the closure. But then she turned around and told us that we couldn't bring this lawsuit in Bankruptcy Court because we weren't a debtor or a creditor and because it might adversely impact the creditors' assets. This is not about assets, this is about people's lives. It begs the question; where do we go for relief when our state agencies are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. We believe the decision violates due process, New York State health laws and the New York State constitution."

Here's a full copy of the appeal

Coalition for a New Village Hospital Appellant Brief