The Board of Directors of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers announced its decision to close down Manhattan's St. Vincent Hospital inpatient services this week.

The decision comes after a six-month effort to try to salvage the city's last Roman-Catholic diocese medical center, which had been facing financial problems from its 2005 bankruptcy, from which it emerged in 2007, says hospital spokesman Michael Fagan.

Last week NYU Langone Medical Center and Mt. Sinai Medical Center backed out of proposed ventures with the hospital.

Mt. Sinai spokesman Ian Michaels said in a statement that the hospital will "continue to consider other health care options for the communities served by St. Vincent's."

NYU Langone Medical spokeswoman Lisa Greiner told NYU News that a purchase "would not be in the best interest of our patients or the NYU Langone Medical Center community."

Neither institution would elaborate.

St. Vincent's reported earlier this year that it faces $700 million in debt. The state of New York loaned the hospital $9 million to keep the services going, The Wall Street Journal reported.

It is unclear what will happen to St. Vincent's 3,500 employees, says Fagan, who will be let go when the hospital sees its last elective surgery on April 14. There aren't any other hospitals St. Vincent is affiliated with to pass on personnel.

It is also unclear what will happen to the hospital's buildings, says Fagan. This includes the O'Toole Building, which was at the risk of being demolished in the hospital's redevelopment plans. The building's fate was controversial because it was deemed a historical building from the 1960s when it functioned as a national headquarters for the National Maritime Union.

A spokesman from GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services, the hospital's main creditor, told DOTmed News it is too early to comment on the hospital's financial plans and assets with regard to paying off owed debt. He said patients are the top priority throughout the process.

A New York Times article reported that in order to satisfy creditors, the hospital may sell or lease most of its Greenwich Village real estate. Hospital officials would not comment.

The state Department of Health will make sure the patients at St. Vincent's are transferred and cared for in the upcoming weeks, department spokeswoman Diane Mathis told The Wall Street Journal.

The hospital's outpatient services, including the Cancer Center and the HIV/AIDS Center will not be interrupted by the closure, said Alfred Smith IV, chairman of the Board of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, in a statement.

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