PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Arthur Schwartz, General Counsel of Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York (CIDNY) on Beth Israel Hospital Closure
3:02:35
ยท
3 min
Arthur Schwartz, representing CIDNY and a coalition opposing Beth Israel Hospital's closure, testified about the hospital's significance and the potential impact of its closure on NYC Health + Hospitals. He criticized Mount Sinai's decision to close Beth Israel and questioned H+H's agreement to accept patients from the closed hospital.
- Highlighted Beth Israel's high patient volume and Mount Sinai's attempts to downsize the hospital since acquiring it in 2014
- Discussed ongoing legal efforts to prevent the hospital's closure, including an injunction in place since February
- Raised concerns about the strain on Bellevue Hospital if it absorbs Beth Israel's patients, particularly in the emergency department
Arthur Schwartz
3:02:35
Good afternoon.
3:02:38
I am the general counsel of the Center For the Independence of the Disabled in New York, the Democratic district leader for Greenwich Village First Avenue to the west, and I am counsel for a coalition of groups and community leaders who've been suing to keep Beth Israel Hospital open, for the last year.
3:02:58
And we've had an injunction in place since last February.
3:03:03
In 2023, Beth Israel Hospital had 535,572 ambulatory care visits.
3:03:12
It had 139,582 inpatient days, and it and it at the time, it had 697 certified beds.
3:03:23
It had over 65,000 visits to its emergency room.
3:03:28
Mount Sinai bought Beth Israel Hospital in 2014, which was a profitable hospital, and they started stripping it down, taking out maternity, neonatal, heart surgery, pediatric surgery, and many other departments.
3:03:44
In 20 to 17, they proposed that they it could be replaced by a smaller hospital with 70 beds.
3:03:52
A lawsuit slowed that down, which I'm glad to say I brought, and the and then COVID hit.
3:04:00
During COVID, the income at at Beth Israel increased from 725,000,000 a year to $858,000,000 a year.
3:04:09
In 2021, Mount Sinai said that it realized the vital role that Beth Israel Hospital played in the community health of the lower east side, and that they were gonna be investing $1,000,000,000 in re rebuilding the hospital.
3:04:25
But in 2023, they announced a closure, and they said we're losing a $150,000,000 a year.
3:04:31
Of course, they were sitting on real estate worth $1,200,000,000 a year, and they started shutting it down.
3:04:38
My and I'm gonna my complaint here the reason I'm bringing this up in this hearing is that we've gone through a whole process with Beth Israel opposing it, challenging it with the Department of Health, and the Department of Health approved the closure in August.
3:04:55
The judge hasn't lifted the injunction.
3:04:59
But one of the key elements that they had to show to justify the closure was that there was an alternative place for the patients to go.
3:05:11
Those 65 there's still 55,000 people in the ED this year in this pared down hospital.
3:05:18
And they said they'll go to Bellevue, HHC.
3:05:23
They said that mister Katz had agreed to take a $20,000,000 grant from Mount Sinai to expand the Bellevue emergency room, which is already overloaded with patients waiting up to 24 hours just to get treated or to get admitted to the and a hospital which has a lack of beds.
3:05:42
Should HHC HHC doesn't have to do that.
3:05:48
HHC's approval of the closure of Beth Israel, their CEO's approval of a $20,000,000 gift to to Bellevue Hospital
Mercedes Narcisse
3:05:59
Wrap it up.
Arthur Schwartz
3:06:00
Was a key piece of that.
3:06:02
And if it happens and if that 20,000,000 is all that HHC wants, the doctors you've been hearing from, the extent to which they're overworked, they will not be able to exist, nor will the community.
3:06:16
Thank you.