
The New York State Department of Health has approved Mount Sinai Health System’s request to permanently shut down Beth Israel Hospital. But multiple ongoing lawsuits are preventing an exact closure date, as suspicions around Mount Sinai’s intentions intensify.
Mount Sinai Health System, which operates eight hospitals across New York City, acquired Beth Israel, located on East 16th Street and First Avenue, as part of its merger with Continuum Health Partners in 2013. Prior to the acquisition, Beth Israel was profitable, producing about $30 million in net income annually, according to tax filings. The hospital was considered a safety net for many, serving low-income and uninsured patients.
But when it merged, the 799-bed center took a loss of $20 million and, since 2014, began a financial freefall, losing around $100 million yearly, according to public tax filings. Beth Israel’s operating income fell from $1.3 billion in 2013 to $875 million in 2022 — the last year for which there is available data. Mount Sinai formally asked the Department of Health for permission to shut down the hospital last September, citing “insurmountable financial losses.”
By the time the New York State Health Department approved Beth Israel’s closure this summer, Mount Sinai had already transferred its cardiac surgery, maternity, neonatal care, pediatrics, chemical dependency, and rehabilitation departments to other hospitals in its network, and had decommissioned over 300 beds, representing 40% of the hospital’s capacity.
Dustin Jones is a longtime Beth Israel patient who’s been in care since 2015. This May, he transferred his treatment to NYU Langone Brooklyn due to the uncertainty around Beth Israel’s possible closure. “It’s pretty much a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said.
Jeannine Kiely spent eight years as the director of Citibank’s Healthcare Group. While chairing Manhattan Community Board 2, she analyzed the entirety of Beth Israel’s financial records from the past 20 years.
“I definitely think it’s poor management,” said Kiely, who noted that other hospitals downtown are gaining patients, while Beth Israel has been “losing market share in a growing market.” Kiely added that the financial downfall could have been prevented with different management decisions.
In February, a coalition of organizations sued Mount Sinai Health System claiming that its planned closure of Beth Israel violated public health law.
“They took it over with a promise to the Department of Health that they were going to renovate it and make a state-of-the-art healthcare network. And instead, the minute they walked in the door, they began dismantling,” said Mike Schweinsburg, president of the 504 Democratic Club, one of the organizations involved in the lawsuit.
In a letter to the Department of Health dated October 2023, Elizabeth Sellman, president and CEO of Beth Israel, wrote Mount Sinai had done “everything in its power to support, enhance, and transform MSBI into a modern and thriving hospital.”
“They didn’t change a light bulb,” said Schweinsburg, “They had one intent in mind, and that’s to gut the hospital and sell the land beneath.”
A physician in Mount Sinai’s network, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a clause in his contract forbidding unauthorized communication with the press, said that voices are circulating among “a lot of higher-ups” that “the plan all along was never to really do anything with BI, just to sell it, because it is prime real estate.” He added that he believes Mount Sinai intends to use the proceeds “to pay off some of the purchase of all the other hospitals that they [acquired].”
In its formal closure request to the State Health Department, Mount Sinai cited a “decreasing inpatient census” as one of the reasons for its necessity to shut down Beth Israel.
“They definitely had enough patients,” said the Mount Sinai physician. “I don’t know where that’s coming from.” He explained that he’s working longer hours at his hospital to manage the influx of former Beth Israel patients, and said he’s not the only staff member affected. “Quite a few very experienced senior nurses just left because they didn’t think there was enough support.”
In August, a New York State judge dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel. But the case was promptly re-filed, and the next hearing has been scheduled for October 31.
“What is going to be left if they succeed is a healthcare desert down here. Four hundred thousand people will be without healthcare so they can make money on real estate,” said Schweinsburg.
A representative from the State Health Department said the agency declined to comment “on matters that are subject to pending litigation.”
Mount Sinai Health System agreed to comment but later declined.