היימישע ב"פ גרופ וויל קויפן די פארשפארטע שפיטאל און בעי רידזש

On April 17, the potential new buyer was introduced at a bankruptcy court hearing by hospital officials and Victory's creditors. If the Abe Leser Group's bid gets approval, it would seek to rent the building to a medical entity for the purpose of using it as a long-term health care facility, officials said.

The major concern is the fate of Victory's ER, which a bipartisan trio of elected officials — Congressman Vito Fossella, state Senator Marty Golden and Council Member Vincent Gentile — have been working diligently to save through legal means and appeals to Gov. David Paterson. ''We're not as optimistic about saving the ER,'' Guarinello said.

The ER, while still open, served 17,000 patients annually. Without the ER, hospitals such as Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park, Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park and Coney Island Hospital would have to accept patients from Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights.

All three hospitals have overcrowded ERs, and officials said that the Victory ER closing would spawn a devastating ''health and public safety crisis'' across Southwest Brooklyn. The legal process through the courts started by the three lawmakers under Article 78 of the state constitution, which allows state citizens to challenge a decision of a state agency which they consider wrongful, continues as the hospital prepares to close.

A crucial meeting is scheduled for today, when representatives from Victory are to be in Albany for a meeting with state Department of Health officials. The meeting is not planned for helping to salvage the ER, but to make final arrangements for closing the hospital by this June 30, officials said.

The dramatic reduction of beds from 254 in December to 30, with reduction of in-hospital services, is part of the closure process.

By a law passed early last year based on the recommendation of the Berger Commission, a state hospital closure commission, the state DOH ordered the bankrupted hospital, opened in 1900, to close.