NY St Vincent's Hospital gets 1-month lifeline -Gov

NEW YORK Feb 3 (Reuters) - New York City's historic but cash-poor Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers on Wednesday got a temporary lifeline as Governor David Paterson offered a one-month loan and set up a task force to help rescue it.

The Greenwich Village hospital lost nearly $80 million last year and needed an $8 million loan to tide it over this week, the Democratic governor told reporters after meeting with the task force, whose members include elected officials, lenders, hospital managers and workers and health groups.

St. Vincent's was founded in 1849 to serve the poor.

The governor, who stressed the hospital's importance to the community, declined to rule out almost any plan to keep it afloat.

Under a recent proposal devised by Continuum Health Partners, the parent company for four hospitals in the city, St Vincent's hospital beds would be shut and it would be transformed into an outpatient center.

But community advocates say this could endanger people who need emergency care by forcing them to travel to hospitals that are further uptown or on the East Side.

Another issue now clouded by the hospital's financial problems is New York City developer Bill Rudin's agreement to build a new facility for the hospital across the street and put a residential office tower on the original site.

A previous restructuring failed to solve St. Vincent's financial problems. Paterson said the hospital has $700 million of total debt, with General Electric (GE.N) and Toronto Dominion Bank (TD.TO) each owed $300 million.

Spokesmen for GE and Toronto Dominion Bank were not immediately available to comment.

A spokesman for Continuum Partners said that St. Vincent's would have its full support if it can solve its problems on its own. (Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Jan Paschal)