By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — An assesment of Greenwich Village's health care needs that could aid efforts to bring a full-service hospital back to the former St. Vincent's site will continue, even as the hospital's properties are sold off.
On Thursday, the same day that developer Stonehenge Partners announced its intention to convert a former St.Vincent's building into a 200-unit rental and retail space, Community Board 2 reaffirmed its support for a new hospital to return to the property.
"The community wants medical uses to remain on that site, and we obviously want a hospital," said board member Brad Hoylman.
The board partnered with North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, which has already received a state grant to operate an urgent-care facility out of the former St.Vincent's site, and the Hunter College School of Public Health to perform the needs assesment.
Both organizations are contributing to the pro-bono study, which looks at the specific health needs of the neighborhood.
While the community board hopes the assesment will provide the hard data necessary for making the case for a new hospital, critics say the short time-frame for the study is inadequate and that more public input is needed.
"If a hospital can shut down in 14 days, then it can open back up in 14 days," said Yetta Kurland, a local resident and civil rights lawyer who filed a lawsuit to obtain St.Vincent's financial records leading up to its declaration of bankruptcy in August.
The sale of St.Vincent's former building at 555 Sixth Ave. to Stonehenge is just the beginning of real estate land grab in the Village, Kurland said.
"St. Vincent's properties are highly sought after by development corporations and real estate interests," she said. "We have to keep the pressure on."
