Mount Sinai’s Beth Israel (MSBI) hospital in Lower Manhattan will not close on Friday, July 12, as had been expected, but plans are still in place to shutter the facility in the near future, according to a memo sent to all staff on Wednesday.
The hospital will remain open for now because it has not received the necessary approval to close from the NYS Department of Health (DOH). It is also embroiled in legal matters due to community members advocating to keep its doors open and services running.
Mount Sinai announced its pending closure 10 months ago, citing financial struggles. Hospital officials picked Friday, July 12, because it was “the furthest date we believed we could reliably keep the hospital open safely,” according to a staff memo written by CEO Brendan Carr, MD, and president and COO Elizabeth Sellman.
“Today is July 10, and we are awaiting the Department of Health’s approval of our closure plan and continue to be involved in litigation that is challenging the closure,” the memo stated. “We will, of course, not commence the closure process without approval by the state and until the legal hurdles are cleared, but there is urgency as there are risks associated with keeping the hospital open beyond the proposed date.”
Approximately 450 staff members quit since Mount Sinai announced Beth Israel’s closure last year in accordance with DOH guidance, making it a challenge to provide service.
“We are using our best efforts to recruit and to bring in staff from other campuses, temporary (locum) doctors and other providers, and agency nurses to help you provide high-quality care,” the memo stated to employees. “Despite that, we have not been able to bring in all the staff that we would like to.”
Hospital officials remain concerned about the staff shortage as the announced closure date has almost come and gone.
“We firmly believe it is even more vital that we close MSBI as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson said. “We submitted our plans over 10 months ago and we will soon be past the date when we thought we could safely remain open.”
The actual closure date now depends on state and legal decisions, the spokesperson said, adding that “the urgency and need to close has never been greater.”
The DOH is reviewing the hospital’s most recent closure plan. amNew York Metro contacted the state agency to ask details about the looming closure, but did not hear back.
Mark Hannay, coordinator of the Save Beth Israel and New York Eye & Ear Campaign, issued a statement saying the crisis has been Mount Sinai’s “own making” since the hospital system acquired Beth Israel over a decade ago.
“Mount Sinai Health System has continually pillaged profitable services from Beth Israel Medical Center to relocate them to their other hospitals uptown, primarily the main hospital way up in East Harlem, in order to buttress its finances and operations. They have undertaken this intentional destruction of BIMC all while walking away from fulfilling its legally required charitable mission to serve BIMC’s Lower Manhattan community, a mission MSHS openly stated it would continue when it took over BIMC in 2013.”
