Beth Israel hospital in Manhattan gets 'conditional' OK to close — but not yet

The New York state health department has given “conditional approval” to close Mount Sinai’s Beth Israel hospital in Downtown Manhattan, according to the department and Mount Sinai. But there’s still no closure date, and a lawsuit by community members seeking to keep the hospital open remains ongoing.

It’s the latest in a monthslong battle between hospital officials and those who want the more than century-old medical center to remain open.

The health department said the approval requires conditions, including running a 24/7 urgent care facility for at least three months after the closure; formalizing coordination with NYC Health and Hospitals to expand Bellevue Hospital’s emergency department and comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs; and formalizing arrangements with other hospitals to provide inpatient services.

That would include requiring Mount Sinai to "appropriately staff" its Behavioral Health Center to ensure sufficient access for patients seeking psychiatric care at other nearby hospitals.

Mount Sinai's health system is also asking a state court to expedite its review of the pending lawsuit.

Mount Sinai first sent the state health department a proposal in 2023 to shut down the Lower Manhattan hospital by July 12 of this year, citing an exodus of doctors and a declining number of patients. But the department rejected an initial closure plan and hadn’t yet ruled on a revised version before the July date — prompting a last-minute announcement that Beth Israel wouldn’t shut its doors then after all.

Last December, state officials ordered the hospital to stop reducing its beds and services, and later found patients had faced delays in receiving lifesaving care because of unapproved service cuts . Then in March, the hospital began diverting ambulances with stroke and cardiac patients as it let designations for those services expire. The hospital said in court filings at the time that it only did so after consulting with the state health department.

Separately, the residents suing to keep the facility open obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent a closure while their case proceeded. That remains in effect for now.

Attorney Arthur Schwartz, the lead counsel in the lawsuit brought by the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital, blamed the health department for not keeping Beth Israel open or forcing it to retain services, calling it "laggard in defending the interests of the community."

"In court all we hear from them is about money; but every single hospital; run by Mount Sinai theoretically loses money," he said in an email. "We are still in court and we still have a temporary restraining order in place. We intend to keep on fighting."

Mount Sinai spokesperson Loren Riegelhaupt said by email that the health system hopes to have a "favorable resolution of this [court] matter soon." For the time being, the hospital will continue to operate and accept patients, Riegelhaupt said.

In a separate statement, Mark Hannay, coordinator of the Save Beth Israel and New York Eye and Ear Campaign, said the decision to let Beth Israel close would "now turn much of Lower Manhattan into yet another 'hospital desert' in our city." The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary is a specialty center affiliated with Beth Israel.

In a letter to the health department on Thursday, the campaign wrote that the measures to provide continuing care to the community were "simply insufficient to address the continuing hospital needs of Lower Manhattan residents who would be abandoned by the closure." And it argued that Mount Sinai was responsible for causing any of staffing issues that might exist.

State health department spokesperson Erin Clary said in a statement that the conditional approval of the closure plan was "based on careful and extensive review of the plan and delineates several conditions to help ensure that patients receive quality care at nearby hospitals and other primary care providers."

This story has been updated to include more details about the conditions placed on a conditional approval of the Beth Israel hospital, as well as a response from the Save Beth Israel and New York Eye and Ear Campaign.