Beth Israel Downsizing Adds to Major Cutbacks by NYC Hospitals
Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital is scheduled to close in the next few years and reopen as a smaller facility.
Fred Mogul, WNYC healthcare and medicine reporter, discusses the hospital's impending closing and how this decision will affect Manhattan’s already shorthanded network of health care providers.
"The writing has been on the wall for a long time here when we look at the inflation in healthcare expenses and the rising cost...hospital costs is one of the big drivers behind why our healthcare system costs so much, " Mogul said. "So we've been trying to move things out of hospitals whenever possible."
New York City Councilman Corey Johnson, the chairman of the council's health committee, called in to the show and questioned why Mount Sinai Beth Israel was cutting their inpatient beds so drastically.
"Why is 70 beds the appropriate amount of beds?" he asked. "They're certified for 856 beds; they currently use 600 beds. They said at any given time they're only 60 percent full. Well 60 percent of 600 beds is 360 beds. So I don't know why the new facility will only have 70 beds."
Mt Sinai Beth Israel officials say <60% of beds are usually occupied, reports @fredmogul. https://t.co/KnXHAXs7aM pic.twitter.com/v2eUEIpOft
— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) May 26, 2016
