A judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit preventing Mount Sinai from closing its Beth Israel location in Manhattan — pushing the embattled medical center further to the brink of oblivion.
The move comes just two weeks after the state Department of Health (DOH) gave Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) the approval to close the Union Square hospital which cleared away a big hurdle in the way of the hospital’s closure.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Nicholas Moyne dismissed the suit that advocates from the community brought forward last winter. Members of the Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary have said the hospital system wanted to close Beth Israel, which is located at 1st Avenue and 16th Street, because it stood to gain “hundreds of millions of dollars” from its sale.
Moyne noted that the suit was filed before the DOH conditionally approved MSHS’s closure plan, according to an article in Crain’s New York Business.
Loren Riegelhaupt, a spokesperson for Mount Sinai, said the hospital system is “pleased” with the move.
“We are pleased the judge has dismissed the case,” Riegelhaupt said. “We will work with the Department of Health and the community to ensure a safe and smooth transition consistent with the approved closure plan.”
Mount Sinai was aiming to close Beth Israel on July 12, 2024, but two obstacles stood in the way: approval from the state, to close and the now-tossed lawsuit.
Even though those hurdles are now cleared, Mount Sinai has yet to announce a closure date for Beth Israel. In the meantime, the services that remain available at the hospital, including the emergency department, must stay open, Riegelhaupt said.
The Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary group released a report last week that analyzes potential real estate valuations of Beth Israel.
In the report, the group wrote that they believe “there will be sufficient profits from any real-estate sales to fund something better than yet another urgent care center in Lower Manhattan.”
Nearly 500 staff members left MSBI since the closure was announced last year. Hospital officials have become increasingly concerned about being able to safely provide services as the facility continued to operate.
“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 hospital’s CEO, Brendan Carr, MD, wrote in a July 10 memo to employees. “Despite that, we have not been able to bring in all the staff that we would like to.”
Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer for the Save Beth Israel campaign, said the judge was “wrong” in his move to dismiss the case.
“I think he was wrong about it being moot, and I wish he had given us another day,” he said, adding that he expects to be in front of a new judge or Judge Moyne this evening.
