St. Vincent's Urgent Care Delayed By Birth Control Fight Updated August 21, 2010 9:48am

The emergency sign was taken down from outside St. Vincent's Hospital on Friday morning, as the hospital closed for good. (DNAinfo/Olivia Scheck)

By Tara Kyle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — A temporary urgent care facility at St. Vincent's is held up due to objections from the former hospital's Catholic ownership.

North Shore Long Island Jewish Medical Center, which will run the new facility, said that the former hospital's owners objected to the possibility that birth control will be distributed there, according to news reports. Both parties must come to an agreement in order for the new facility to proceed.

The availability of birth control was one of “a number of significant issues,” holding up negotiations with former St. Vincent’s officials, according to a spokesperson for North Shore-LIJ.

There are also financial concerns.

“While North Shore-LIJ will continue to negotiate in good faith with St. Vincent's officials, we cannot acquiesce to unreasonable demands that would place North Shore-LIJ at major financial risk and impose religious criteria on our clinicians,” North Shore-LIJ said in a statement.

The new North Shore-LIJ facility was originally slated to open in September. Once operational, it will serve as a temporary provider of urgent care until a permanent space is secured.

Representatives for the two hospitals plan to discuss the issue Friday.