A struggling Brooklyn hospital is making plans to shut down in March after a decision by the Cuomo administration to delay grants to help finance a merger intended to rescue the institution, officials said on Wednesday. The hospital, Long Island College Hospital, on the border of Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights, announced in October that it was merging with SUNY Downstate Medical Center, a major public university and medical center, as part of a deal put together last fall by former Gov. David A. Paterson and state health officials. The deal included some $62 million in state grants --- $22 million for Long Island College Hospital and $40 million for SUNY Downstate --- under a program intended to encourage efficiencies and mergers in New York's healthcare system.
