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Brunswick closes rehab and nursing home facilities Brunswick Hospital Center's rehabilitation unit, once a nationally recognized facility closed June 7, along with the health-care facility's nursing home. The closings come on the heels of the closing of the general hospital two years ago and the nursing home, which closed May 30. The last portion of the facility which at one time provided a wide array of health care services to Amityville and the surrounding area, is Brunswick Hall, the psychiatric unit. That sits on three acres of the 13-acre site and serves approximately 124 patients. Brunswick Hospital is in bankruptcy and J. Stewart McLaughlin of Bay Shore, receiver emeritus and the hospital's spokesman, said that a decision on what will happen to the land and the buildings will not be made until those proceedings are concluded, which is expected some- time within the next month. The hospital's primary creditors are its employees, members of 1199. In the past, a spokesman for those employees said they were hoping to recoup back pay owed the employees, a statement McLaughlin confirmed. The health care facility is separate from the property and McLaughlin said that the owners, Dr. Amar Jit Singh and Harry Fruhman, have been presented with a number of offers for the land including proposals for other health care uses, retail use and housing. "There have been a lot of discussions but nothing is on the table," said McLaughlin. "They are waiting to get through this bankruptcy." A check with several real estate agents in the area supported McLaughlin's statement that while there have been developers coming forward with a variety of ideas, the owners have not entered into any commitments. It's that uncertainty that has Amityville Village Mayor Peter T. Imbert worried. "It's the unknown that concerns me," said Imbert, pointing out that the hospital is the largest real property taxpayer in the Village. "I would imagine that at this time they want to maximize their real estate so we will just have to wait and see. At one time, the hospital owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes to the Village. Imbert said that money was paid when Singh and Fruhman took over the hospital from its former owners, the Steins. "At this point they have been made whole with the Village," said the Mayor.
Calls placed to the 1199 Health Care Workers Union were not returned at press time.
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