REMARKS
Council Member Carlina Rivera addresses concerns over Mount Sinai's closure of Beth Israel Hospital
0:12:31
·
136 sec
Council Member Carlina Rivera expresses deep concern over Mount Sinai's decision to close Beth Israel Hospital, highlighting the potential negative impact on healthcare access for Manhattan residents. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining local hospital services and calls for improved community engagement and regional planning efforts.
- Rivera points out that Manhattan residents below 14th Street already have less than one hospital bed per 1,000 people.
- She notes that Beth Israel sees 70,000 emergency room visits annually and provides essential services like maternity care.
- The council member urges the governor to sign the Local Input and Community Healthcare Act and calls for additional resources to ensure equitable healthcare access.
Carlina Rivera
0:12:31
I'm a representative for Manhattan Communities, and I wanna thank chairs and our season showman for holding this deeply important hearing.
0:12:39
I also wanna thank My state colleagues who are here from Brooklyn to to the Bronx, who have shown up in support because they know how critical our hospitals are to each and every one of our communities I'm very, very proud to be working in coalition with local advocates and elected colleagues to protect access to high quality health care as Mount Sinai moves forward with closing Beth Israel in our community.
0:13:06
Without details, this decision leaves the health and well-being of 400,000 Manhattan residents in question.
0:13:12
And our community has already seen services move up town and west, and at this time Manhattan residents below 14 Street have less in one hospital bed per one thousand people.
0:13:23
Local emergency room wait times are already very high, and Beth Israel sees 70,000 emergency room visits a year.
0:13:33
But this goes beyond an emergency room.
0:13:36
But Israel's a full service hospital that has slowly been moving core hospital services such as maternity care and childbirth to other locations within their network, all located uptown above 57th Street.
0:13:48
Women need access to quality care as we face a maternal health crisis in our city, and people deserve access to a full suite of services that help maintain good health and well-being.
0:14:00
Hospital closures harm our most vulnerable communities and reduce our readiness for emergency events.
0:14:07
Remaining hospitals and health centers will be overburden and will face the same financial challenges, but with fewer resources.
0:14:15
We must enhance community engagement requirements for proposed closures, improve regional planning efforts, and take every step necessary to safeguard health care access for all.
0:14:28
I'm very thankful to my colleagues at the state level for the local input and community health care act, and I urge the governor to sign it, and for, of course, the state to put additional resources into assessing how we can adequately and equitably serve our communities and ensure health care for all.
0:14:47
Thank you.
