Mount Sinai transfers employees, equipment amid Beth Israel closure lawsuit

New York City-based Mount Sinai's Beth Israel began shifting employees and equipment to other parts of the health system on Jan. 14 to ensure patient care at other facilities amid the hospital's delayed closure. 

The hospital shared plans to close in September 2023, but has been caught up in lawsuits from the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary aimed at preventing its closure. It is also losing between $500,000 and $600,000 daily to keep the hospital open, and has lost more than $1 billion over the last decade.

"Up until now, we have not moved unused equipment or transferred excess staff from MSBI,"  Brendan Carr, MD, CEO of Mount Sinai, said in a Jan. 14 employee memo shared with Becker's. "However, both of these are greatly needed in other parts of our health system to ensure patient safety."

Dr. Carr said Mount Sinai has been holding open jobs at its other hospitals while it waits to relocate employees, leaving them in limbo and other system hospitals understaffed. As part of the shift, around 36 underutilized nurses and other employees at Beth Israel will be relocated to other parts of the system, effective immediately. 

Some system hospitals that have "serious" equipment needs, such as dialysis machines for intensive care units, will also receive unused equipment, effective immediately. 

"The staffing and supply moves will also not result in the reduction of services, closure of departments or a reduction in beds at MSBI," Dr. Carr said. 

Related to Beth Israel's pending closure, Dr. Carr said "the political nature of the closure has overshadowed the financial realities, patient care and the voices of healthcare experts." 

An attorney for the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital and the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary told Becker's on Jan. 15 that Mount Sinai is in contempt of an August 2024 temporary restraining order preventing the closure, and that he will be taking the matter to court. 

"Dr. Carr …  is basically saying we're bigger than the courts [and] we can take the law into our own hands," he said. 

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