A deal could be in the works to save parts of Long Island College Hospital from shutting down, the Daily News reports.

State officials are negotiating a deal with unions and doctors that would make a complete closure of the hospital “less likely,” a source told the News.

If an agreement is reached, SUNY Downstate Medical Center would withdraw its plans to close the hospital with the Department of Health. Officials would then work on a financial restructuring plan that includes the fate of Long Island College Hospital. Downstate is required to consider the input of labor unions and community representatives in creating the plan.

The unions and doctors would then drop the lawsuit against SUNY that has halted the closure plans.

The SUNY trustees first voted to close the hospital in February because of financial troubles. Opponents of the plan say the closure would be devastating for local residents who need emergency care.

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A Brooklyn judge ruled on Thursday that the State University of New York cannot close Long Island College Hospital because its board of trustees violated the state’s Open Meetings Law.

The trustees voted last month to close the Cobble Hill hospital as an in-patient facility because of financial troubles, but they violated the law when they held a private session before voting.

Thursday’s ruling came in response to a petition by doctors and healthcare workers who are fighting to keep the hospital open, saying it would hurt the local community if it were closed.

Opponents of the plan have also accused SUNY of planning to sell off the valuable real estate that the hospital sits on.

A spokesman for SUNY disagreed with the ruling, but said the trustees would work to correct the problem, the New York Times reported.

The trustees would need to hold public deliberations before voting again.

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A state judge has temporarily stopped the State University of New York from moving forward with plans to close Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, the New York Times reports.

The decision comes the same week that SUNY submitted its official closure plans to state health authorities. The SUNY board of trustees voted earlier this month to close the hospital as an in-patient facility, citing financial troubles.

A group of doctors at the hospital and two unions petitioned to invalidate the SUNY trustees’ vote, saying the trustees violated the state’s Open Meetings Law by holding a private meeting before voting. The judge, Justice Betsy Barros, set a hearing for March 7.

Officials have said the hospital, which is run by SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has been losing $4 million a month.

Opponents to the plans to close the school say it would be devastating to the local community, and have accused Downstate Medical Center of wanting to sell off valuable real estate in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn.

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