Statement by Lower Manhattan Elected Officials on the Dismissal of the Lawsuit Regarding the Closure of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital

Statement by Congressman Jerry Nadler, Congressman Dan Goldman, State Senators Kristen Gonzalez, Brian Kavanagh, Liz Krueger, and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymembers Harvey Epstein, Deborah Glick, Grace Lee, and Tony Simone, Councilmembers Carlina Rivera, Erik Bottcher, Keith Powers, and Christopher Marte, and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine on the Dismissal of the Lawsuit Regarding the Closure of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital

For the past 2 years, we have fought alongside community advocates to maintain access to healthcare in Lower Manhattan. Yesterday, a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed the latest lawsuit against the State Department of Health and Mount Sinai Health System and vacated the temporary restraining order (TRO) that had prevented Mount Sinai from proceeding to close the Beth Israel Hospital. 

Throughout this entire process, our offices have advocated to maintain health services and have secured a robust plan that ensures continued access to care for MSBI patients, transfer and referral coordination for psychiatric patients, millions of dollars in financial support for Bellevue Hospital, and a clear and comprehensive engagement process with the community. While there is no substitute that will entirely make up for the closure of a full-service general hospital, Mount Sinai has committed, at our insistence, to open a new 24/7 Urgent Care+ facility, and we believe that this will provide much needed continuity of care for MSBI patients.

Our offices will continue to work together to ensure that Mount Sinai opens the urgent care center within 24 hours of the announced March 26th closing of Beth Israel and fulfills its additional commitments to mitigate the impacts the closure will have on patients. We remain committed to exercising all oversight authority to hold Mount Sinai accountable, and to securing access to health care services for Lower Manhattan.

We thank the Coalition to Save Mount Sinai Beth Israel for their tireless advocacy on behalf of everyone this hospital serves. Through their hard work, they were able to shed light on the inequity of care and widening gaps of healthcare access across our city and our state. Hospital closures can be very detrimental to the health and wellbeing of vulnerable communities, and we need comprehensive policies in place to ensure healthcare access for all.  

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