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The state wants to turn an unused medical facility into a hospital to take the pressure off coronavirus-strained facilities — but a disgruntled doctor’s feud with his former employers is gumming up the works, a new court petition alleges.
Dr. John Hajjar was a partial owner and manager of 438 W. 51st St. — currently under construction to be a SurgiCare ambulatory surgery center — but he was axed from the gig and won’t turn over paperwork allowing the other building owners to finish the construction, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court petition filed late Wednesday.
Instead, Hajjar has allegedly left the building in limbo while the New York State Department of Health has been in talks with owners West Side Manhattan Real Estate LLC about employing SurgiCare to help during the COVID-19 crisis, the court documents claim.
In February, the consortium that owns the building voted him off as manager after he declared bankruptcy for 26 of his companies, the court papers say. But Hajjar doesn’t believe the vote was valid and the dispute between the doctor and the other shareholders has delayed the facility from opening, court papers say.
“Right now, SurgiCare’s two operating rooms and sixteen beds sit empty as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps through New York,” the court filings claim. “SurgiCare’s ambulatory surgical center would be open right now were it not for Dr. Hajjar’s campaign of obstruction.”
The facility also “received inquiries” about using the space as a birthing center where moms could go into labor away from coronavirus patients, the court filings say.
The petition is asking a judge to enforce Hajjar’s ouster and to force him to cooperate so the building can help during the coronavirus crisis.
“Dr. Hajjar’s preferred course is to do nothing … Dr. Hajjar would have SurgiCare’s ambulatory surgical center continue to sit empty, just out of spite against his fellow Members,” the court documents charge.
Hajjar’s lawyer, Philip Yachmetz, denied the allegations in the petition, saying, “They are trying to portray this as a COVID emergency which it is not … They are trying to leverage the COVID crisis for a contractual dispute.”
Yachmetz said construction of the facility is almost complete. But it hasn’t undergone inspection or licensing yet for that reason, Yachmetz said.
“I would hope the court would see this really isn’t a COVID emergency matter and I would hope the judge would chastise the lawyers representing the moving parties,” Yachmetz said, noting that New York state courts are only accepting new cases that relate to coronavirus emergencies.
The Health Department did not respond to a request for comment.
