Interfaith Medical Center (NY) to remain open for 16 more days

The dying Interfaith Medical Center still has a faint heartbeat, thanks to a sympathetic bankruptcy judge. Supporters of the Bedford-Stuyvesant hospital had argued in federal court that the state moved ahead with its plan to close the cash-strapped institution without a legally obligated 90-day review — and state officials ultimately concurred Monday that "the closure plan does not yet meet the department's requirements." The bankruptcy court ultimately agreed, delaying a shut-down that had been slated to begin Monday. But the ruling will likely only slow the inevitable. The hospital is losing more than $1.5 million a month, records show, and its 1,544 doctors, nurses and other staffers will be laid off on Sept. 11.