NEW YORK — New York City’s St. Vincent’s Hospital has closed for good.
The last Catholic-affiliated hospital in New York City was permanently shut after 8 a.m. Friday. An emergency room sign was removed and “closed” signs were posted on its double doors.
The ER treated 43 people overnight. Two were sent to other hospitals.
Eileen Dunn, a nurse for 24 years, says the atmosphere in the ER was “like a funeral” just before the closing.
The city deployed extra ambulances to the area to bring emergency cases to other hospitals.
Earlier this month, St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers filed for bankruptcy.
Since it opened in 1849, the famed Manhattan hospital has treated cholera victims, survivors of the Titanic and victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. It also was at the forefront of the early response to the AIDS epidemic.