By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — VillageCare, an umbrella health organization with a nursing home and short-stay rehabilitation center at 607 Hudson Street, misses St. Vincent's Hospital.
For decades the two organizations were partners on an array of chronic care programs for HIV/AIDS patients and the elderly. Once the hospital closed, though, monthly patient referrals to the nursing home and rehab center dropped by 30 percent, said VillageCare executive director Emma DeVito.
"You miss that relationship not being there," DeVito said. "It's almost like you've had a friend for many years, and then you're friend moves to China. Or your friend dies."
Health clinics in lower Manhattan have been affected by the closing of St. Vincent's in a variety of ways. Some have had to scramble to take on new patient loads. Many have also met financial challenges, relying on philanthropy and state grants to help with the strain.
The Callen-Lorde Community Health Center saw hundreds of new patients after St. Vincent's Hospital closed in April. Average appointment times surged from roughly three to four weeks to more than two months. Callen-Lorde had to hire 40 new staffers and add evening and weekend hours to handle the influx.
"It hasn't been easy," said Wendy Stark, executive director of the Chelsea center, which specializes in HIV/AIDS patients and care for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
Before St. Vincent’s ran into trouble in February, the Raymond Naftali Center in Chelsea operated strictly as a source of comprehensive neurological care. But over the past six months, the Naftali Center has taken over eight programs from St. Vincent’s O’Toole Center, including pediatrics, rheumatology, internal medicine and gastroenterology.
“This was a huge shift financially in terms of risk,” said Terry Mann, executive director of the Naftali Center, where the percentage of Medicaid patients grew from 10 to 35 percent. Medicaid pays doctors and hospitals much less for their services than private insurance.
That’s resulted in an increase in patients from close to 15,000 annually to a projected 30,000, and necessitated an extra 10,000 square feet of facility space. These expansions are possible for the Naftali Center through the financial support of its benefactor, Gloria Naftali.
Other heath centers, however, have had to scramble to make their new patient loads work. Four, including Callen-Lorde, will split a $4.6 million New York State grant announced in April specifically to help support centers taking on former St. Vincent’s patients.
But that grant money hasn’t been dispersed yet due to hold ups with the state budget, according to Kathy Gruber, the executive director of another recipient, the Ryan-NENA Community Health Center on the Lower East Side.
For all the immediate challenges in staffing, patient loads and balance sheets, Emma DeVito of VillageCare said some of her biggest concerns about St. Vincent's closing are more long term. Health centers are increasingly being asked to do more with less at a time when baby boomers are entering retirement.
"In the next 10 to 15 years, you're going to have a huge influx of people needing care," DeVito said. "We have a moral obligation to provide care... but more and more, we're just getting cut and cut."
