Mount Sinai Beth Israel (MSBI), a major NYC hospital that treated patients for over 135 years, officially closed its doors Wednesday morning.
Mount Sinai’s CEO, Brendan G. Carr, MD, announced on Tuesday night that the emergency department—the last remaining service at the troubled East Village hospital—would close at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9.
“To some, the closure of a building may seem like a natural part of doing business, but I know how much this building meant to so many of you,” Carr wrote in a staff-wide letter. “Many of you are moving to other parts of the Mount Sinai Health System and on with your lives, while others have left for new jobs or retirement. I just want to say thank you again from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done for lower Manhattan, Beth Israel, Mount Sinai, each other, and most of all, our patients.”
The emergency room at MSBI is no longer accepting patients. However, a new Mount Sinai Urgent Care Center on nearby East 14th Street is now open and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
An ambulance and security will stay on-site at the closed hospital for at least a month to help anyone who arrives during its closure.
Carr said the new facility will soon have expanded on-site services to treat patients.
“We will be adding a CT scanner and expanding services in the months ahead to ensure the community has the care it needs when it needs it,” the doctor said.
The emergency room’s closure is the final step in the hospital’s drawn-out plan to officially close. It comes after an appeals court ruling on Tuesday that rejected community advocates’ push to keep it open.
The hospital first announced it would close in 2023, citing financial challenges and low patient capacity. Still, community advocates have fought a legal battle for almost a year to keep it open.
“The closure of Beth Israel Medical Center will create a near health care-desert in lower Manhattan,” Jeff Peters, director of communications at the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York, said “The doctors, nurses, and staff at Beth Israel Medical Center were and are lifesavers, and we thank them. But make no mistake, this closure will put people at risk, particularly people with disabilities and seniors. We need more access to health care facilities, not less, especially in the current climate. We hope the appeal process will keep these much needed medical services available to all who need them.”
Since it first announced it was closing, hundreds of staff members have left the hospital, services have diminished, and legal proceedings have continued. Meanwhile, hospital officials became increasingly concerned about being able to provide services safely as the facility struggled to operate.
Mount Sinai Health leadership said it has been alerting the community to the closure by various means, including letters sent to more than 55,000 patients.
“We will ensure that every patient will be taken care of—the safety and care of our patients is, and has always been, our guiding priority,” Carr said.
