Rally for LICH 9:00am Tuesday On Supreme Court Steps

The ongoing legal saga continues tomorrow morning with a hearing on our motion at 10:00am.  The broad coalition of community groups and medical personnel that then Public Advocate de Blasio brought together to sue to preserve healthcare in our community will come together once again on the Court house steps to support our legal team in the fight to keep healthcare alive at LICH.

SUNY wanted to put the padlocks on LICH a year ago.  Time and again they have flouted the community, the laws, and the judiciary.  Help us keep them honest.

Where:  NY State Supreme Court Steps (near intersection of Court Street and Montague)

When:  9:00am, Tuesday June 3, 2014

Who:    Anyone who cares about preserving healthcare facilities in our community

As usual the Brooklyn Eagle's Mary Frost keeps us all up to date on the situation:

Advocates for Brooklyn’s Long Island College Hospital (LICH) say they’re fed up with the State University of New York’s (SUNY) RFP “manipulations” that have left the hospital closed and without a real ER.

Attorney Jim Walden, of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, told the Brooklyn Eagle that the LICH community filed a motion at state Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Friday to throw out the rankings turned in by six of the hospital bid evaluators. Supporters say these evaluators did not follow instructions to award more points to full-service hospital proposals, the key feature of a landmark legal settlement.

One panelist gave no points at all to any of the four hospital bids, but the full 70 points to a developer, Fortis Property Group. Earlier this year, Fortis was SUNY’s first choice to buy the LICH campus, but that deal was scuttled when the the settlement was reached.

SUNY lawyers say that they designed the RFP to have wiggle room. During a May 21 hearing, attorney Frank Carone told state Supreme Court Justice Johnny Lee Baynes, "When we structured the elements, the language we used was artful.” As an example, Carone cited wording on the RFP to the effect that proposals offering a hospital "will be eligible for a higher technical score," though not necessarily entitled to one.

State Supreme Court Justice Johnny Lee Baynes, who has been overseeing the LICH fight for more than a year, will consider the petitioners’ motion Tuesday morning.

LICH supporters are expected to show up in force before the hearing for a 9 a.m. press conference to demand that the court enforce the settlement.

Click through for her comprehensive (much longer) updates.