State tries to save obstetrics at a hospital in Brooklyn

The New York State Health Department has promised a loan to a community hospital in Brooklyn to help it keep its obstetric and pediatric services operating, but hospital officials said that more money would be needed to keep the services running beyond the end of the year. In a letter sent to Long Island College Hospital, the state said it would prevent the services from closing because other hospitals in Brooklyn would be unable to handle the extra cases. The state announcement came four months after the hospital's parent company, Continuum Health Partners, announced that it could no longer afford to absorb the operating losses and malpractice insurance costs associated with obstetrical services.