As the closure of New York City-based Mount Sinai's Beth Israel hospital remains in limbo, the health system has expressed concerns over threats to "lock up" specific Mount Sinai senior executives should the hospital close in violation of a temporary restraining order.
The hospital was supposed to close on July 12, according to its revised closure plan, but the New York State Department of Health's continued review of the plan has delayed the closure.
Mount Sinai is also battling a lawsuit from the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary to keep the hospital open.
In a July 18 letter to New York City State Judge Nicholas Moyne obtained by Becker's, Mount Sinai attorney David Friedman pointed to concerns over a letter that Arthur Schwartz, attorney for the coalition, had shared with the Mount Sinai defendants' counsel and leaked to Spectrum News on July 10.
"I will immediately go to court and seek jail time for the president of Mount Sinai and president of Beth Israel," Mr. Schwartz said in the letter should the hospital close in violation of a temporary restraining order.
"There was and is no good faith basis to claim that the hospital intended to close in violation of the court’s orders, and such baseless threats against distinguished professionals who have devoted their careers to providing health care to the New York community are wholly unwarranted," Mr. Friedman said in the July 18 letter.
Mr. Friedman had also written a July 9 letter, obtained by Becker's, to Mr. Schwartz and denied that the hospital had plans to close in violation of the TRO, calling his claims "baseless and false."
"Your threat to seek to 'lock up' Dr. Carr and Ms. Sellman—highly respected professionals who have dedicated their long careers to providing healthcare to the New York community—has no merit whatsoever," he said. "Should you follow up on this baseless threat, the Mount Sinai defendants reserve the right to seek appropriate sanction."
Mr. Schwartz responded to Mr. Friedman in a July 19 letter shared with the court, calling the claims that Dr. Carr and Ms. Sellman feared for their safety "preposterous."
"I believe that nothing inappropriate was said," Mr. Schwartz said in the July 19 response letter. "[Had] Carr and Sellman gone ahead with their July 12 plan, which Sellman kept repeating to all staff, I would have sought a contempt citation and imprisonment."