Winthrop University Hospital's 2nd cyberknife is put on hold indefinitely due to budget concern

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>Herald Community Newspaper
By ALEX COSTELLO and ANTHONY BOTTAN May 14, 2009

Long Island pocketbooks take a hit

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All not-for-profits, hospitals, municipalities, any company or organization that has a payroll, will feel the hit of a payroll tax.

Winthrop University Hospital President John Broder said that the combination of health care cuts in the state budget and the payroll tax has created a "very challenging environment." Winthrop has about 5,500 employees, Broder said, and a payroll of $334 million, so that works out to about $1.24 million in payroll taxes. Add that to the health care cuts, he said, and the hospital is losing nearly $9 million. "We will not have layoffs, but we will have to forgo all the capital projects that were in place," he said.

Approximately $119 million in capital projects - included expanding the hospital's neuroscience unit and adding another Cyber Knife unit - will be put on hold indefinitely. "We are doing everything we can to weather the storm," Broder said. "We have to monitor our expenses closely, and we are disappointed that we can't move forward on these projects."


** Winthrop is a 591-bed teaching hospital located on Long Island in Mineola, NY **