Political Leaders Rally To Save Beth Israel

On December 14th a considerable array of Manhattan political and community leaders gathered in front of Beth Israel Hospital as part of an effort to stop the hospital closing. This reflected the broad ripple effect the closing will have all over Manhattan. They expressed no confidence that Mount Sinai Hospital, which owns Beth Israel, would listen, but did call on the Health Department to step forward (which has happened for now, see story on page 1). 

The gathering was organized by City Council Member Carlina Rivera, who represents the area, from the East River to 6th Avenue. The speakers included Borough President Mark Levine, City Council Members Keith Powers, Erik Bottcher, Christopher Marte, and Mercedes Narcisse, NY State Senators Brian Kavanagh and Kristen Gonzalez, State Assembly Members Tony Simone, Harvey Epstein and Deborah Glick, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Various community activists spoke as well.

Mt Sinai said that it has lost $1 billion over the past decade and expects to be another $150 million in the red this year. An earlier plan to shutter Beth Israel and consolidate it with other facilities was postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic. However, hospital has now confirmed that many of its inpatient beds are not being used. Hospital officials have also claimed that keeping Beth Israel open would jeopardize the rest of the Mt. Sinai system.

“For residents below 14th St., there is less than one hospital bed available for one thousand people,” Rivera noted. “That statistic is important because you can go to other neighborhoods, more affluent neighborhoods, where there are more beds per person. This is an issue of equity…. Since 2016, we’ve heard from Mt. Sinai about these ‘transformations.’ About how they are going to pivot on how they’re going to combine and consolidate. ‘Transformation’ is a word…that sounds like closing services. They’re eliminating services.”

“We need the New York State Department of Health to step forward and lead on this issue,” said Mark Hannay, the Director of the Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign, a longtime East Village resident, and the Chairperson of the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital. “They need to protect hospital care in Lower Manhattan. They can’t just rubber-stamp this closure plan that Mt. Sinai has given them.” 

Borough President Levine spoke next. Noting that the population of Manhattan south of 23rd St. is around 400,000 people, he said, “We are in danger of being left with one small full-service hospital–New York City Presbyterian’s downtown location–for the equivalent of a mid-sized American city. I checked the stats today. Atlanta has a population of 400,000. There are dozens of hospitals inside the Atlanta city limits. That is wholly inadequate. There’s no substitute for an Emergency Department connected to inpatient beds if you’re having a true medical crisis.” Levine added that redirecting patients to Bellevue would strain the capacity of that hospital.

Many politicians spoke of their personal connections to the hospital. Council Member Marte called himself a “Beth Israel baby.” Council Member Powers mentioned that he lived across the street in Stuyvesant Town. State Assembly Member Epstein informed the audience that his daughter was born there.

Public Advocate Williams compared the shutdown to a predatory loan, calling it a “predatory plan for a hospital to get as much money as humanly possible–on the backs of the healthcare that people must have in this city. I find that every time we put profit over a human right over something that people need, we run into problems.” 

Employees of Beth Israel also spoke. Dr. Sara B. Karp, who helps administer the Family Medicine Residency Program, foreshadowed the devastating effect that the closure would have on doctors-in-training.

Dr. Sharon McLennon-Wier, Executive Director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY (CIDNY), who is blind, spoke movingly about what losing Beth Israel’s services could mean for New Yorkers with disabilities. “We are all one step away from having a disability. The disabled population does not discriminate. You could be black or white. Rich or poor. Gay or straight. What makes a difference in an emergency is having a hospital that can help you… Mt. Sinai is creating a crushing situation by taking our opportunities away. We must continue to fight.”

Arthur Schwartz is counsel to the Coalition to Save Beth Israel and General Counsel of CIDNY. Based on reporting by Jack Ahern.