New York City-based Mount Sinai Beth Israel’s March 26 planned closure has been delayed again amid ongoing legal back-and-forth to keep the hospital open.
The closure delay comes as the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court has not decided on whether it will lift the pause that is delaying the hospital’s closure, according to a March 25 employee memo shared with Becker’s.
Mount Sinai has been stuck in litigation brought by the Community Coalition to Save Beth Israel Hospital to keep the hospital open after the system in September 2023 shared plans to close the hospital. In July 2024, the system received conditional approval from the state health department to close Beth Israel, but it has remained open in some capacity due to the lawsuits.
“We will take it day by day,” Brendan Carr, MD, CEO of Mount Sinai, and Elizabeth Sellman, president and COO of Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Downtown, said in the memo. “We will, of course, continue to follow the law as we await the Appellate Division’s ruling and update everyone as soon as we have a decision.”
Arthur Schwartz, an attorney for the community coalition, reaffirmed with Becker’s in a March 25 statement that the hospital was not closing on March 26 and that it took the signs down that said it was closing “under threat of a court sanction.”
Mount Sinai informed patients in late February of its plans to close Beth Israel on March 26, per direction from the state health department. The system sent letters and electronic notices to “tens of thousands of current and former patients” and to appropriate healthcare partners and regulators to inform them of the plan, the internal memo said.
Inpatient services ended at Beth Israel in February; the hospital’s emergency department is still open to the public.
“To the more than 200 staff who remain working at MSBI, thank you again for your continuing commitment and professionalism as we navigate the situation,” the memo said. “For those transferring within Mount Sinai, we know you are anxious to have clarity on the final closure date and begin your transition to another part of the Health System. We are also anxious for that clarity, and we will provide you any updates we receive as quickly as possible.”
