PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dr. Kimberly Murdaugh, Physician and Advocate from Save Beth Israel and New York Eye & Ear Campaign
3:26:08
·
137 sec
Dr. Kimberly Murdaugh, a physician and advocate for Save Beth Israel and New York Eye & Ear Campaign, testifies about the importance of Beth Israel Hospital and the potential impact of its closure on the community. She shares her personal connection to the hospital and highlights its historical significance in serving the Lower Manhattan community.
- Dr. Murdaugh emphasizes Beth Israel's role in pioneering medical techniques and its contributions during the AIDS crisis.
- She expresses concern about the hospital's closure, citing population growth, an aging population, and the recent pandemic as factors that make the hospital essential.
- Dr. Murdaugh stresses that the fight to save Beth Israel will set an example for New York and the world about what New Yorkers stand for.
Kimberly Murdaugh
3:26:08
Hi.
3:26:08
My name is Doctor Kimberly Murdock, and I'm a physician living on the Lori side, and I'm also part of the safe death Israel and New York Eye And Ear campaign.
3:26:16
Thank you, everyone, for having me today.
3:26:19
Our campaign stands ready to work with both the council and others to address the crisis of inequitable hospital closures in New York.
3:26:28
I wouldn't be in New York today if it weren't for Beth Israel Hospital.
3:26:32
Both of my parents are from North Carolina and they grew up in the Jim Crow South going to all black segregated schools.
3:26:39
Against all odds, I got to go to Harvard University and Yale School of Medicine.
3:26:43
And during my time at Yale, I learned about a historic hospital.
3:26:47
In New York City that had served Lower Manhattan for over a 100 years.
3:26:52
According to the publicly available Mount Sinai Library archives, Beth Israel was founded to take care of Jewish immigrants living on the low raised side.
3:27:00
Who had been turned away from city hospitals because they were overcrowded.
3:27:06
Mount Sinai Beth Israel was a pioneer in many techniques, including colonoscopy.
3:27:11
It was the first hospital to recognize AIDS as a clinical entity, and it developed some of the first AIDS medications and clinical trials.
3:27:18
So when I learned all of this as a medical student in 2017, I knew that I had to train at this legendary hospital, and I received a world class education that I possibly might not have gotten from Harvard or you, but my internship was very tough.
3:27:35
Mount Sinai was understaffed.
3:27:39
We had already suffered loss of the closure of Saint Vincent's Hospital, and at times it felt like that Israel was holding the community together.
3:27:48
That was already 7 years ago.
3:27:50
And since then, our population has grown, our seniors are older, we've suffered a pandemic, and I know that this closure would devastate our community.
3:27:58
And what happens next in the fight to save Beth Israel is going to send an example, not only to New York but to the world of what New Yorkers stand for.
3:28:06
Thank you for your time.
Lynn Schulman
3:28:10
Thank you very much.
3:28:11
Really appreciate it, and appreciate the story that you told.
Mercedes Narcisse
3:28:17
To take your time as a practitioner to come in, we appreciate that even.
3:28:22
Thank you
Carlina Rivera
3:28:22
so much.
Kimberly Murdaugh
3:28:23
Thank you so much.
3:28:23
You're also saving lives.
