On Tuesday, some doctors said that New York State's verdict to pick Lenox Hill Hospital to operate the new urgent care center at St. Vincent's Hospital was an interesting choice, if only because Lenox Hill is on the Upper East Side, while St. Vincent's is in Greenwich Village.

The center could be an income source for the economically poor Lenox Hill, as it would provide a duct for patients all the way from West 12th Street and Seventh Avenue, the site of St. Vincent's, to 77th Street and Park Avenue, the site of Lenox Hill.

But, the option also indicates a new beginning in the jam-packed Manhattan hospital vista, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System that is in the last stages of discussions to bring Lenox Hill into its network.

If the union takes place, the North Shore system will make its presence felt in two flush Manhattan areas, the Village and the Upper East Side.

The urgent care center that would cure only trivial medical conditions is believed to help fill up the empty space, which will be left when St. Vincent's that has announced insolvency, shuts its doors on Friday.

But in a note to the St. Vincent's personnel on Tuesday, Mark E. Toney, the Chief Restructuring Officer for the hospital during its liquidation, recommended that Gov. David A. Paterson's declaration of the new urgent care center on Monday may have been untimely.