9. North General Hospital
North General Hospital was a private, not-for-profit teaching hospital in East Harlem that closed in 2010. Opened in 1979 to replace, as tenant, the Hospital for Joint Diseases, NGH had a significant impact on East Harlem’s economy, acting as the largest private employer in Harlem. It was the only minority-run, voluntary teaching hospital in all of New York state.
NGH opened as the Joint Diseases North General Hospital at its first East Harlem location, but the hospital moved in 1991 into a newly built facility two blocks south. Yet, by 2004, private hospitals in New York, including NGH, were behind by more than $100 million in payments to pension funds and employee benefits. By its closing, the hospital had a debt of around $293 million, closing four days after Saint Vincent’s Hospital. The hospital, a symbol of Harlem’s growth, closed with little warning, leaving many patients frazzled.