State officials mulling construction of new Brooklyn hospital

Gov. Cuomo has earmarked $700M for medical facilities in the borough

From left: Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Brookdale Hospital in Brownsville
From left: Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Brookdale Hospital in Brownsville

State officials are considering construction of a new medical facility in Brooklyn that could replace the borough’s struggling Brookdale Hospital.

Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address yesterday, outgoing budget director Bob Megna floated the idea of a new Brooklyn hospital. 

“I think it’s pretty clear that a new hospital is required,” Megna said. “We’re still working on the details of how that would work in the context of our overall health care plan and we’ve kind of reserved $700 million for that.”

The funds have been set aside for hospital capital construction in east or central Brooklyn, Capital New York reported.

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“We probably wouldn’t fully finance the hospital,” Megna said. “We’d have to have partners that would be part of that process. I think we’re still working on it, but the possibility is there that we’d build a new hospital.”

Brookdale has millions in debt and recent reports indicate the hospital is close to bankruptcy, according to the website. The hospital mainly serves the Brownsville and East New York communities.

A group of Brooklyn multifamily investors purchased four buildings from Brookdale in November. Brooklyn’s Long Island College Hospital closed last year and was purchased by Fortis Property Group for $240 million. [Capital NY] — Tess Hofmann