Negotiations ongoing in med center rent dispute
Negotiations to settle a rent dispute between Westchester Medical Center and the primary benefactor of the center”™s Maria Fareri Children”™s Hospital are ongoing and both sides say they are hopeful for a resolution.
“Things appear to be proceeding well and we are still in the process of negotiating,” John Fareri said last week.
Fareri, a residential developer in Greenwich, Conn., in March contended that the medical center owes approximately $1 million in back rent since January to Pep”™e-Fareri One L.L.C., the entity through which he and William Pep”™e own 19 Bradhurst Ave. in Hawthorne. The center leases the 210,000-square-foot building and subleases about two-thirds of the space to medical practices.
At the time, Fareri had ordered the regional hospital and its subtenants out of the office building by the end of March, but that has not yet happened as the two sides continue to negotiate.
“We”™re still there (at 19 Bradhurst) and we”™re working toward a final agreement right now,” said medical center spokeswoman Kara Bennorth.
The medical center entered into a lease with Pep”™e Fareri One in 1996 and sought to end that lease in 2005, one year early, to save $2 million a year at a time when the hospital”™s finances were shaky following years of losses.
Accreditation
Also, Bennorth addressed the hospital”™s accreditation downgrade by The Joint Commission after the medical center failed to meet one of its own documentation standards for assessing pain.
Bennorth said the downgrade, which was made April 25, had to do with documentation errors and not patient care.
“Basically, we have set a standard for documenting pain within one hour of intervention,” she said, and that standard wasn”™t met during the hospital”™s quarterly report to the commission.
Because of that, the center”™s accreditation is considered provisional, meaning it is not in full compliance with all applicable standards, according to the commission.
The downgrade relates to August, when the commission conducted its regular survey of the medical center.
However, Bennorth said the medical center has since met its standards for assessing pain and that will be reflected in the next regular survey conducted by the commission.
“Our most recent data shows that we are meeting that standard, and we will be reporting that back to them,” she said. “We are maintaining that standard for documentation.”