By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — St. Vincent's Hospital, the Greenwich Village institution slated to close its emergency room Friday, will be converted into an urgent care facility this summer.
Gov. David Paterson announced Monday night that he had struck a last-minute $9.4 million deal with the Upper East Side's Lenox Hill Hospital to run the facility, which will provide 24/7 care for non-life-threatening ailments.
Patients who require more serious treatment will be transported by ambulance to one of the city's full-scale hospitals by ambulances run by North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
While politicians and activists had pushed for an urgent care center to fill the void left by the hospital's closing, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn emphasized on Monday that the measure was merely temporary.
"Only a full-service hospital can fully replace St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center," Quinn said in a statement.
The new facility, which will eventually move to an undetermined location, will be equipped to treat 25,000 people per year, compared to the 60,000 that were accommodated by the St. Vincent's emergency department alone.
