The state Department of Health has granted Mount Sinai Beth Israel conditional approval to close, spokespeople for both said Thursday, clearing a hurdle in its contentious quest to shutter. 

The hospital near Manhattan’s Union Square had aimed for a July 12 closure, but an ongoing lawsuit and a lack of state approval hindered its plans. 

While the lawsuit remains pending, the state’s tentative signoff removes one obstacle for Beth Israel — though it comes with stipulations, a Department of Health spokesperson noted. 

“The conditional approval of the closure plan submitted by Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Hospital is based on careful and extensive review of the plan and delineates several conditions to help ensure that patients receive quality care at nearby hospitals and other primary care providers,” the spokesperson said in a statement. 

Those include formalizing agreements between nearby hospitals to ensure patients have access to inpatient treatment; running a 24/7 primary and urgent care clinic for at least three months after closure; and formalizing an agreement with NYC Health + Hospitals to invest in the expansion of Bellevue Hospital’s emergency department and comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs, the spokesperson said. 

In a separate statement, Mount Sinai spokesperson Loren Riegelhaupt said the hospital was “grateful for the DOH’s careful and comprehensive review of our proposed closure plan.” 

“We have also asked the state court for an expedited review of the legal case brought by the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary seeking to compel the hospital to remain open,” Riegelhaupt said. “We hope to have a favorable resolution of this matter soon.” 

A judge handling the lawsuit issued a temporary restraining order against the hospital earlier this year.

Riegelhaupt did not provide a new tentative closure date for Beth Israel, saying the hospital would “remain open and accepting patients” for the time being. 

“We will provide more detailed information and updates as we continue to work closely with DOH and to present our position to the court,” he said. 

Mount Sinai plans to open a new 24/7 urgent care center on 14th Street — two blocks away from Beth Israel — that will accept “all forms of health insurance coverage,” Riegelhaupt said. 

“In addition, we have agreed to support the FDNY by operating an additional ambulance downtown, and we continue to work with and support other area hospitals, including NYCH&H and Bellevue, to help ensure coordination and continuity of care once we close,” he added.

Mount Sinai announced its plans to shutter Beth Israel last fall, a little over two years after it walked back a previously announced plan to downsize.  

Opponents of the hospital’s plan have said its closure would have devastating impacts on the local community and could potentially overwhelm other city hospitals. 

Hospital officials, however, have said financial losses and dwindling inpatient volumes have left them with no choice but to close.