Emergency Rooms Left in Chaos by St. Vincent's Closure, Report Says Updated October 11, 2010 6:28am

The emergency sign was taken down from outside St. Vincent's Hospital in April. (DNAinfo/Olivia Scheck)

By Nina Mandell

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Closing St. Vincent's Hospital has left neighboring emergency rooms in chaos as they try to cope with a deluge of thousands of new patients, the the Daily News reported.

Hardest hit is Bellevue Hospital which has seen its emergency room traffic go from 8,000 to 10,000 patients a month.

The emergency room is so overcrowded the sick become increasingly agitated, and sometimes even violent as they wait for care, the News reported.

"We are seeing people in rapid succession continuously in every space we've got, and trying to achieve excellence in the face of substantial chaos a good part of the day and night," Bellevue’s chief of emergency medicine, Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, told the newspaper.

At Beth Israel, a newly renovated emergency room has seen an uptick of around 25 percent since the Greenwich Village health center closed its door, the News reported

"Although it's stressful, it has felt more like a transition than a disaster. We felt in control," its chairman of emergency medicine told the paper.

Under a staggering amount of debt, St. Vincent’s closed in April after 160 years of treating patients.

Shuttering the hospital created outrage from community residents who warned it was leaving the area with too little healthcare.

Since its closing, former staff members at the hospital have filed lawsuits alleging mismanagement of funds.

But even if they win, it won't help the patients at Bellevue.

"It’s chaos," one elderly man waiting for treatment recently told the News.