South Bronx health clinic tied to ex-State Senator Pedro Espada may close

State officials are deliberating over whether to revoke the Medicaid
license of Soundview Health Center, the clinic in the South Bronx run
by scandal-ridden ex-State Senator Pedro Espada, WNYC reported. Such a
measure could close the facility down. Espada, who is facing
trial on charges that he misused health center funds, is still running the
center even though he was barred from using Medicaid money earlier
this year. Espada says the center gets half of its $14 million funding from
Medicaid.

State officials also claim that Soundview has not complied
with anti-corruption regulations or cooperated with auditors, charges
that Espada denies. The closure of the center at 731 White Plains Road in one of the poorest
neighborhoods of the city would come on the heels of other hospital
and health clinic shutdowns throughout the five boroughs from St. Vincent’s hospital in Greenwich Village to the Peninsula Hospital Center in Far Rockaway. [WNYC]