Bonds to be sold to help New York hospitals and nursing homes comply with the mandates of a commission that called for the closing, consolidation, or downsizing of 80 facilities won’t go to the market this year, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York said last week.
“Bonds for this program will be sold far down the road,” DASNY spokesman Marc Violette said in an e-mail. Any issue will come “a year or more from now, after the money is spent and accounted for and it [will be] time to reimburse the state’s general fund with the proceeds of a future [personal income tax] bond sale.”
The grants will be funded by a combination of federal and state funds. The state’s portion will eventually be reimbursed by the PIT bonds.
Last week the state Department of Health announced that 13 institutions would receive grants totaling $160.7 million to help them comply with the recommendations of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, which is also known as the Berger Commission.
The department awarded $362.3 million of grants last fall, which brings the total grants awarded to $523 million out of $550 million designated for this purpose. The Health Department said in a press release that it anticipates offering more grants this year.
Five of the grants were given to institutions with DASNY bonds outstanding.
The largest grant, $65 million, was awarded to Kaleida Health in Erie County, which was mandated to close its Millard Fillmore Hospital-Gates Circle facility and convert its DeGraff Memorial Hospital into a residential care facility though it will continue to provide emergency care until at least 2011.
While the Millard Fillmore Hospital building will close, its services will move to the Buffalo General Hospital, said Kaleida spokesman Michael Hughes. The system has about $234.4 million of DASNY debt outstanding.
Two hospitals in Schenectady, Ellis Hospital and St. Clare’s, will get a $50 million grant to join under a single unified governance structure. Most of the funding, $40 million, will be used to cover employee benefit obligations of St. Clare’s as well, and the rest will be used for costs associated with consolidating services. Ellis has about $50.8 million of DASNY debt outstanding.
St. Joseph’s Hospital of Cheektowaga was awarded $8 million to begin closing but its acute and emergency services will be operated by the Sisters of Charity until at least 2011. The hospital is part of the Catholic Health System WNY, which has about $67.2 million of DASNY debt outstanding, of which St. Joseph’s portion is $8 million.
Peninsula Hospital and St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Queens were awarded $750,000. The commission mandated that the hospitals merge. Peninsula borrowed $5.7 million through the New York City Industrial Development Agency in 1998 and was approved for an additional $20 million issuance last year. St. John’s has about $9.2 million of DASNY debt outstanding.
St. Charles Hospital in Suffolk County, which was directed to downsize, was awarded $3 million. It has about $61.8 million of outstanding DASNY bonds.
