The New York state health department has given “conditional approval” to close Mount Sinai’s Beth Israel hospital in downtown Manhattan, according to the department and Mount Sinai. But there’s still no closure date, and a lawsuit by community members seeking to keep the hospital open remains ongoing.
It’s the latest in a monthslong battle between hospital officials and those who want to see the more than century-old medical center stay open.
The Mount Sinai Health System said it will operate a 24/7 urgent care and an ambulance in the area as a condition of the closure. The health system is also asking a state court to expedite its review of the pending lawsuit.
Mount Sinai first sent the state health department a proposal in 2023 to shut down the Lower Manhattan hospital by July 12 of this year, citing an exodus of doctors and a declining number of patients. But the department rejected an initial closure plan and hadn’t yet ruled on a revised version before the July date — prompting a last-minute announcement that Beth Israel wouldn’t shut its doors then after all.
Last December, state officials ordered the hospital to stop reducing its beds and services, and later found patients had faced delays in receiving lifesaving care because of unapproved service cuts. Then in March, the hospital began diverting away ambulances with stroke and cardiac patients as it let designations for those services expire. The hospital said in court filings at the time that it only did so after consulting with the state health department.
Separately, the residents suing to keep the facility open obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent a closure while their case proceeded. That remains in effect for now.
Attorney Arthur Schwartz, the lead counsel in the lawsuit brought by the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital, blamed the health department for not keeping Beth Israel open or forcing it to retain services, calling it “laggard in defending the interests of the community.”
“In court all we hear from them is about money; but every single hospital; run by Mt. Sinai theoretically loses money,” he said in an email. “We are still in court and we still have a temporary restraining order in place. We intend to keep on fighting.”
Mount Sinai spokesperson Loren Riegelhaupt said by email that the health system hopes to have a “favorable resolution of this [court] matter soon.” For the time being, the hospital will continue to operate and accept patients, Riegelhaupt said.
State health department spokesperson Erin Clary said in a statement that the conditional approval of the closure plan was “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.”
