The birth of a baby with celebrity parents at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital has prompted Mayor Michael Bloomberg's defense of the private hospital and its right to rent out executive suites, according to a New York Times report.
Stars Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z chose Lenox Hill for the delivery of daughter Blue Ivy Carter last Saturday. There has since been a whirlwind of media scrutiny to the hospital's accommodations, including assertions that the two paid more than $1 million to convert an entire wing into a private labor and delivery suite. Non-celebrity patients also say they were prevented from entering the unit for hours.
Mayor Bloomberg defended the hospital without mentioning the celebrities' names. He said these types of rentals can be the source of great revenue.
"If [the hospitals] get paid a lot of money, and it [lets] them provide services to other people who don't have insurance or can't afford it, I'm not so sure it's a bad thing," he said, according to the report. "Full-paying patients are very valuable to hospitals in this day and age."
Lenox Hill officials denied the reports of Beyoncé and Jay-Z paying $1.3 million for an entire wing, calling them "simply not true." Instead, the hospital says the stars were billed the standard rate for an executive suite.
Nurses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai Medical Centers Authorize Strikes
NY Dept. of Health Wants Power to Remove Ineffective Hospital Board Members
Stars Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z chose Lenox Hill for the delivery of daughter Blue Ivy Carter last Saturday. There has since been a whirlwind of media scrutiny to the hospital's accommodations, including assertions that the two paid more than $1 million to convert an entire wing into a private labor and delivery suite. Non-celebrity patients also say they were prevented from entering the unit for hours.
Mayor Bloomberg defended the hospital without mentioning the celebrities' names. He said these types of rentals can be the source of great revenue.
"If [the hospitals] get paid a lot of money, and it [lets] them provide services to other people who don't have insurance or can't afford it, I'm not so sure it's a bad thing," he said, according to the report. "Full-paying patients are very valuable to hospitals in this day and age."
Lenox Hill officials denied the reports of Beyoncé and Jay-Z paying $1.3 million for an entire wing, calling them "simply not true." Instead, the hospital says the stars were billed the standard rate for an executive suite.
Related Articles on New York Hospitals:
Contract Talks Break Down Between Massena Memorial in New York, UnionNurses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai Medical Centers Authorize Strikes
NY Dept. of Health Wants Power to Remove Ineffective Hospital Board Members