NEW YORK, NY March 17, 2009 —A Brooklyn hospital with one of the borough’s busiest emergency rooms is laying off more than 200 people. The move caught community leaders and elected officials by surprise. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

REPORTER: Many hospitals have struggled with financial problems, especially in poverty-stricken areas like central Brooklyn. But Brookdale Hospital was not widely considered in trouble.

Monday morning, hospital officials began announcing the 240 lay-offs, some of them effective immediately. That’s more than five percent of the hospital's workforce. The acute trauma center serves Brownsville, Canarsie and East New York.

Hospital officials blamed insurers, HMO’s and Medicaid cuts, but community advocates cited longstanding problems with service at the hospital, and elected officials faulted Brookdale’s leadership for mishandling economic challenges. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.