Interfaith Medical Center officials and creditors went to court yesterday seeking approval of a plan to close the Brooklyn hospital by Christmas Day, but the New York Department of Health asked the court to adjourn the hearing until Oct. 15, Crain's New York reported today. The state also pledged $3.3 million to keep the hospital running. Interfaith submitted a new closure plan on Tuesday to the New York Department of Health that called for the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn-based hospital to close by Dec. 25. A bankruptcy court judge was set to review the closure plan and additional financing for the hospital, as well as legal moves by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who came in first in Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary, to keep Interfaith open. Mr. de Blasio's attorneys filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court on Aug. 20 to halt the closure, arguing that state health officials approved Interfaith's closure plan improperly and disregarded a 90-day review period required under law. The court proceedings originally had been scheduled for Aug. 26 but were adjourned at the request of the New York Department of Health.
