A panel of judges in a Manhattan appeals court has allowed Mount Sinai to proceed with its drawn-out closure of Beth Israel Hospital.
The Appellate Division of the First Judicial Department rejected a bid from community advocates to overturn the state’s approval of the Beth Israel closure in a 4-1 ruling issued Tuesday. As a part of the ruling, the court lifted a temporary stay that has prohibited Mount Sinai from closing down Beth Israel since February and suspended the system’s plan to halt operations by March 26.
“We are pleased with today’s ruling from the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court which, consistent with the lower court’s previous decision, allows us to implement our closure plan for Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s 16th Street campus immediately,” said Loren Riegelhaupt, an outside communications consultant representing Mount Sinai. The health system has not set a new closure date for Beth Israel Hospital, Riegelhaupt said.
The plaintiffs plan to challenge the decision in the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, according to Arthur Schwartz, who is both an attorney representing advocates and a plaintiff in the case himself.
Beth Israel has operated as a shell of its former existence for weeks after a lower court allowed Mount Sinai to start shuttering hospital services on Feb. 26. In just a few days, the hospital shut down all inpatient services and transferred admitted patients to other facilities; but the Appellate Division issued a temporary stay on Feb. 28 that prevented the hospital from closing down additional services.
The emergency room is the only functioning department at Beth Israel Hospital, according to Riegelhaupt. He declined to share how many patients have used the emergency room since the lower court’s decision.
Before Beth Israel officially closes its doors, Mount Sinai plans to open an urgent care center on 14th Street on the campus of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, which is fully constructed, Riegelhaupt said.
The decision is the latest in a saga of legal battles that has lasted more than a year, as community advocates have challenged a hospital closure that they say will erode access to care in Lower Manhattan. Mount Sinai, which brought in $3.9 billion in revenue in 2023, said that the most recent court order has exacerbated financial woes. Mount Sinai has lost $3.5 million because of the court order pushing it past its March 26 closure date, according to a letter it submitted to the court earlier this week.
