BED CUTS: Labor unions, elected officials and local activists are rallying in opposition against planned services cuts at Montefiore hospitals in the Bronx. The New York State Nurses Union, the Committee of Interns and Residents, state and local representatives, and several community advocacy groups spoke out against a plan on Friday that would close 47 beds and reduce some medical services at Montefiore’s Moses campus, according to the nurses union. Opponents of the plan say the reduction would exacerbate patient overcrowding at some of the health system’s hospitals.
SURGERY CENTER: A new freestanding vascular surgery center has applied to open in the Morris Park section of the Bronx. The Bronx Endovascular Center, will occupy the site of an existing private surgical practice at 1733 Eastchester Road, a 5,200 square foot space that will have two operating rooms when renovations are completed, according to a filing with the state Department of Health. The project is meant to serve Bronx residents who are currently patients of another surgery center in Manhattan called, NY Endovascular Center, whose CEO is a principal in the new Bronx office.
BETH ISRAEL CLOSURE: A New York appeals court ordered Mount Sinai on Friday to halt its shutdown of Beth Israel Hospital until it reviews a lower court ruling that greenlit the closure. Community advocates sued Mount Sinai and the state Department of Health last year over the state’s approval of the Beth Israel closure; but a judge tossed the case last week stating that the agency had the authority to allow the hospital to shut down. Mount Sinai began shuttering services last week and plans to officially close on March 26, but the order prevents the health system from ending additional services for now.
