Local politicians are maintaining the data used by the Berger commission to justify closing Victory Memorial Hospital is dangerously flawed, according today’s Brooklyn Eagle.
State Senator Marty Golden, Congressman Vito Fossella and local Councilman Vincent Gentile, who are challenging the closure of Victory in a lawsuit with the DOH filed under Article 78 of the state constitution , are asking the NYSDOH to reverse their decision citing FDNY data that contradicts the Berger Commission’s findings that the other three local hospitals (Lutheran and Maimonides) could absorb the impact of Victory’s ER closing.

FDNY data accumulated over a three month period is said to suggest the closest hospital ERs to Victory are operating at, or way beyond capacity; ‘Lutheran was on diversion for almost 700 hours and Maimonides for around 1,100 hours, with other area hospitals also experiencing high diversion numbers,’ the Eagle goes on to report.

Lawmakers are hoping the new impact data will compel the state to revisit its decision.

The hospital facilities are due to be auctioned sometime this summer, with a 40 million dollar bid in the offing by St. Vincent’s Holy Family Home of Bensonhurst.