Dive Brief:
- The Mount Sinai Health System plans to close Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital and open a far smaller facility in about four years on 14th Street and Second Avenue in downtown Manhattan.
- The hospital has been struggling financially and said it uses less than about 60% of its 825-bed capacity, The Wall Street Journal reports.
- The new Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel Hospital will operate 70 beds and an ER.
Dive Insight:
The move comes in response to healthcare trends toward outpatient care and reduced stays.
“As the healthcare industry continues to shift to outpatient clinics and homecare, more and more hospital beds have been left empty and Beth Israel has struggled with substantial financial losses," 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East President George Gresham said in a statement. The union represents more than 4,000 nurses and caregivers at Beth Israel Hospital.
It also follows the closure of numerous other NYC facilities in recent years due to excess capacity. Those closures included St. Vincent’s in 2010, Cabrini Medical Center in 2008, and and Long Island College Hospital in 2014.
Mount Sinai also plans to expand primary, specialty, behavioral, and outpatient surgery services, as well as upgrade its New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, according to a press release.
The hospital noted that while 600 to 700 nonunion employees are expected to lose their jobs, about 4,000 union employees will keep their positions or receive training for new ones.