COBBLE HILL — The State University of New York signed an agreement that will bring a freestanding emergency room and residential units to Long Island College Hospital after the deal appeared to fall through last month, officials announced Thursday.
Fortis Property Group’s $240 million proposal to redevelop the Cobble Hill site with NYU Langone Medical Center prevailed after the hospital’s fate remained in limbo for more than a year.
NYU will more than double its proposed space for healthcare services, from 65,000 to 135,000 square feet, and will invest $175 million into the new facility, SUNY chairman H. Carl McCall said in a statement.
“This significant expansion and commitment to Cobble Hill patients was negotiated by SUNY in recognition of the need for greater services in the community,” McCall said.
The agreement still requires approval from the State Attorney General and State Comptroller.
Once the approvals are in place, NYU will “move quickly” to begin operation of the emergency department, a spokeswoman said.
NYU will also work to resume ambulance services to the hospital and employ about 75 physicians and 400 workers at the facility.
Last month, NYU backed out of the deal with Fortis over a lawsuit from the New York State Nurses Association, which claimed that the parties had failed to hire laid-off LICH nurses.
NYU eventually returned to the deal and its plans to open a "new state-of-the-art facility.”
The complex should be completed by 2018, Crain’s New York Business reported.
