Concerns are rising about the plan to shut down Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan.

The health system announced it would close the hospital in July, however Mount Sinai said it’s already ramping down some of its patient services, and that health care staff have begun to resign. Some community members and elected officials are concerned about the hospital being able to provide adequate care. 

Beth Israel on the Lower East has served the community since the 1880s. The campus in Manhattan is shutting its doors due to financial losses. Mount Sinai—which bought the hospital ten years ago—said it’s on track to lose $150 million dollars this year. Hospital officials also said they’re seeing fewer patients than ever before. Now the hospital is fast-tracking its plan for a July 2024 shutdown.

For longtime members of the community like Jorge Vargas, who has used the emergency care services for the last 47 years, the hospital’s closure is a big loss.

“I think the hospital shutting down is not necessarily great for the neighborhood because we don’t know what’s going to happen here. Obviously having a hospital nearby is always good,” he said.

Vargas, who has a nephew born at Beth Israel, said he had high hopes when Mount Sinai first bought the facility.

“Unfortunately, the hospital felt always a bit run down, so we were hoping that once Mount Sinai took over, there would be more true leadership, and it would be a top of the class-type hospital,” Vargas said.

Vargas said he now has to seek care at NYU Langone, about a mile away, amid the closure.

Assembly Member Deborah Glick said she has deep concerns the closure will leave the area severely underserved.

“They are shifting services that are needed downtown to other parts of their system, leaving lower Manhattan with a serious deficit in access to services,” said Assembly Member Glick.

Mount Sinai, in a statement provided to NY1, defended its need to accelerate the plan to close: “The facility’s rapidly declining patient census and staff departures will require some reduction in services prior to July. We have informed our regulators and local officials about this and posted our proposed closure plan and additional information for patients on our website.”

Assembly Member Glick said that Sinai is closing its units despite the fact that the State Department of Health has not approved its closure plan.

Meanwhile, Mount Sinai said it’s working with some patients to transition their care to nearby hospitals like Bellevue.

The hospital also said it’s helping union staff members find jobs at one of their other locations.