Judge: Community groups get a seat at the table in LICH case
No decision yet about Public Advocate, nurses, healthcare workers
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Carolyn Demarest decided on Wednesday that six Brooklyn community groups would be allowed a voice in legal issues being decided in her court concerning the ownership of Long Island College Hospital (LICH).
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, which has been stymied in its attempts to close LICH, had contested the legal standing of the groups, which include The Boerum Hill Association, Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, Cobble Hill Association, Brooklyn Heights Association, Wyckoff Gardens Association and Riverside Tenants’ Association.
On Aug. 20, Justice Demarest found that SUNY Downstate had violated its contractual obligation to keep LICH open and ordered that its valuable assets be transferred back to either Continuum Health Partners or another willing operator.