Cuomo will fund Interfaith hospital till March 2014

Governor Andrew Cuomo tossed Brooklyn’s Interfaith Medical Center a lifeline by committing to fund operations at the struggling hospital until March 2014.

On Sunday, Cuomo met with Brooklyn Assembly member Karim Camara and discussed the plight of the hospital at 1545 Atlantic Avenue.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Public Advocate-elect Letitia James told Capital New York. “It came about because electeds from Central Brooklyn had an emergency meeting Saturday morning, we met with the governor yesterday and he gave us some resources to keep the hospital open.”

Health department spokesperson Bill Schwarz said in an announcement Monday that “during this [funding] period, the State Health Department will continue its review of IMC’s transition plan and work closely with the facility towards final approval.”

But Camara told Capital New York that Cuomo’s move didn’t mean that the hospital was out of the woods financially.

“There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of finding money, and having time for the Medicaid waiver and restructuring,” Camara said. “Today was a day that could have been the culmination of something very bad. We are appreciative of the fact that they didn’t do it.” [Capital NY] – Hiten Samtani