Watertown's Mercy of Northern New York is postponing its closure for three weeks.
That's according a "Notice of Closing" letter sent from Mercy's administrator to city Mayor Jeff Graham on Tuesday.
The health care facility was expected to shut down permanently between February 7 and February 20.
All 240 of its employees were to be laid off at that time.
However, the closure and layoffs will now occur between March 1 and March 14.
"The reason for the postponement is that we are awaiting approval by a New York state agency," the letter states.
Federal law requires this kind of notification for municipalities whenever there is a facility shutting down that will result in significant job cuts.
