By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Eli Manning is taking a hit in his wallet for ailing St. Vincent’s Hospital.
The Giants quarterback, who has been a spokesperson for the Greenwich Village hospital for several years, will pass up future payments due to the cash-strapped facility's fiscal woes, according to the New York Post.
“When Eli learned that the hospital was in financial difficulties, he released them from the contract ... from the monetary agreement," a spokesman for Manning’s sports-marking firm IMG told the Post.
The hospital — which is facing $700 million in debt — already paid Manning in excess of $600,000 since 2006, but can’t afford it any more.
"Due to our current financial situation, the hospital will be unable to continue this partnership and has no intention of making payments going forward," the hospital said in a statement.
St. Vincent’s has received two rounds of bailout funds from the state in recent weeks.
Recently, hundreds of hospital workers were laid off and all non-union workers including management received up to 25 percent pay cuts.
Over the summer, the hospital had signed Manning, one of the NFL's top-paid players, to a $1 million contract for a five-year promotion deal.
Under the agreement, Manning's merchandising company in Ohio would receive $250,000 per year, but the superstar quarterback would return $50,000 to the hospital in donations. In exchange, the hospital received exclusive rights to media ads starring Manning, who was required to make six appearances per year through fundraising events.
In May, a press release said a birthing center at St. Vincent's would be renamed the “Eli & Abby Manning Birthing Center” in honor of the Giants star.
But under the deal, St. Vincent's also shelled out for the Mannings’ first-class airfare, hotels, food and transportation during their appearances, the Post reported.
"Many people [would have been] surprised by the arrangement," Bennett Weiner, who heads the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, told the Post.
Manning’s rep said he will continue to help raise funds for the birthing center without pay.
Manning's six-year Giants contract totals $97 million.
