Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers of New York (Saint Vincent’s) announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved the $260 million sale of Saint Vincent’s Manhattan campus, including the historic O'Toole Building, to the Rudin family and the North Shore-LIJ Health System. Structured with the leadership of Grant Thornton LLP’s Corporate Advisory & Restructuring Services practice, the deal establishes a stand-alone 24-hour emergency center and ambulatory surgery facility in New York’s Greenwich Village area.

For the storied healthcare system, which rose to prominence in the 1980s for its AIDS and HIV treatment programs as well as the first response hospital for the 9/11 tragedy, under the loyal stewardship of the Sisters of Charity, the ground-breaking transaction provides the potential for a full range of critical care and medical treatment services to New York residents who live and work in the surrounding areas of Manhattan’s westside. Negotiated amid one of the largest and most complex bankruptcy proceedings in the healthcare industry, the resulting deal represents the culmination of a successful process led by Grant Thornton’s National Managing Principal Mark E. Toney, who is the Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) of Saint Vincent’s.

“This transaction is a positive outcome for the residents of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood and surrounding communities. The Saint Vincent’s team including our counsel, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (Kramer Levin), have worked very closely with the Rudin family and the North Shore-LIJ Health System to create a long-term healthcare solution serving the lower downtown New York community with the building of this critical care center. We had to balance the interests of a wide range of constituents involved in Saint Vincent’s court-supervised restructuring process,” said Mark Toney. He added, “While Saint Vincent’s continues to be saddened by the ultimate closure, we are pleased that we could collectively provide an opportunity to bring a 21st Century, new healthcare model to the area.”

The new critical care center will provide a free standing emergency department, employing more than 300 medical professionals and physicians that are expected to treat 72,000 patients annually. As part of the transaction, North Shore-LIJ will invest $110 million in the project, including a contribution by the Rudin family of $10 million to help offset redevelopment costs for the new healthcare facility. In addition, the Rudin family will invest in the development and building of new residential and retail space on the eastside of Seventh Avenue and to build a new park of open space on the triangle parcel of land.

Toney and several members of the Grant Thornton team have overseen the onsite operations and management of the Saint Vincent’s medical system since January 2010 when Toney was appointed CRO and Grant Thornton partner, Steve Korf, was appointed CFO. At the time, the multi-facility inpatient and outpatient healthcare system was struggling to rein in rising healthcare costs, after having posted operating losses and revenue declines following its emergence from its first bankruptcy process in 2007, which left it saddled with more than $1 billion in liabilities.

As crisis and interim management of Saint Vincent’s, Grant Thornton and Saint Vincent’s lead counsel, Kramer Levin, worked together on numerous initiatives to first attempt to preserve the healthcare system, including obtaining interim funding and identifying a potential new sponsor. When no parties were stepped forward to provide a full service hospital, the team moved to secure the continuity of care and protection of patients in an orderly closure.

Toney further said that he is “appreciative of the collective and collaborative efforts of all the key stakeholders and their professionals in the case. The collaboration has resulted in multiple benefits including continuity of patient care, a complex closure executed with compassion and respect, an increased recovery for its creditors, and ultimately the transaction with North Shore-LIJ and the Rudin family that potentially reestablishes modern healthcare in lower Manhattan.”