Mount Sinai Beth Israel is hoping to stick with its mid-July closure date.

What You Need To Know

  • Officials said Mount Sinani Beth Israel lost $1 billion in the last decade and there’s only $29 million in cash reserves remaining

  • The hospital recently had to issue a more detailed closure plan to the state Department of Health, including the impact the closing will have on the community

  • Officials want to make sure a possible closure doesn’t overwhelm other hospitals

But it’s seeing resistance from community members like Victor Medina.

“I would have to find somewhere else. And it’s hard for me to get around,” Medina said.

The hospital has tried to phase services out, but it was stopped by the state Department of Health. To close, it will need the seal of approval from the department.

“What’s next is to try [to] negotiate with the State Department of Health to try [to] ensure that whatever happens here respects the needs of our community, and work with them to ensure that we lose this hospital in July, and we have long-term services for our neighborhood,” Assemblymember Harvey Epstein said.

The hospital recently had to issue a more detailed closure plan to the DOH, including the impact the closing will have on the community.

Officials like Epstein want to make sure a closure doesn’t overwhelm other hospitals.

“We want to make sure that our neighbors get served, not just closing and saying, ‘Oh, good luck,’” Epstein said.

The hospital, though, said its financial outlook is grim.

According to officials, Beth Israel lost $1 billion in the last decade and there’s only $29 million in cash reserves remaining.

“We are at the center of a tipping point for healthcare delivery in the U.S., and Mount Sinai Beth Israel is caught in the middle. Stuck between nimble and adaptable outpatient care and world class referral centers of excellence,” Mount Saint CEO Dr. Brenden Carr said.

Carr said closing Beth Israel does not mean they’re turning their back on their commitments, pointing to investments the hospital has made in other neighborhoods.

“We are working with the state and the court to ensure patient safety remains the guiding principle as we move forward to closure,” Carr said.

But with the hospital set on closing, it’s leaving the 400,000 people it serves in limbo.

“It’s going to be hard for a lot of people, elderly people, who can’t get around,” Medina said. The nearest hospital to Beth Israel is Bellevue Hospital, which is about a half-mile away.