New York-Presbyterian dials back UES expansion plan

New York-Presbyterian Hospital lacks sufficient funds for its $1 billion state-approved expansion plan, and will scrap the maternity ward portion of the project, hospital officials told DNAinfo.

Officials announced at a Community Board 8 meeting last week they have enough money for an ambulatory care center on York Avenue, between East 68th and 69th streets, but not the maternity facility. The hospital had said the facility would include 12 operating and 12 endoscopy rooms as well as private rooms for mothers and newborns.

Last July, it announced plans for the 15-story building housing both centers, and replacing two residential buildings that are largely home to hospital staff.

In January, the hospital volunteered to bail out the financially-stricken New York Downtown Hospital, the last remaining hospital in Lower Manhattan, as previously reported. [DNAinfo] – Mark Maurer