Mount Sinai Beth Israel postpones closure, hospital system says

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mount Sinai Beth Israel will not shut its doors Friday as expected, the hospital system announced days ahead of the scheduled closure.

The hospital system said it still expects to close the Gramercy hospital in the near future.

The hospital system has said for the past 10 months that July 12 would be Beth Israel's final day in operation.

Ongoing lawsuits and resistance from both the community and state health department has made it impossible to meet that deadline, the hospital system said.

"We will, of course, not commence the closure process without approval by the state and until the legal hurdles are cleared, but there is urgency as there are risks associated with keeping the hospital open beyond the proposed date," according to a memo distributed earlier Wednesday.

Beth Israel has been part of the Mount Sinai Health System since 2013.

Mount Sinai issued a statement reiterating it intends to close Beth Israel "as quickly as possible."

"We firmly believe it is even more vital that we close MSBI as quickly as possible. We submitted our plans over 10 months ago and we will soon be past the date when we thought we could safely remain open. The actual closure date now depends on state and legal decisions but the urgency and need to close has never been greater."

Council Member Carlina Rivera issued a statement regarding Mount Sinai's postponement closure:

"It is a relief that Mount Sinai's indefinite postponement of the closure of Beth Israel will keep the hospital open for now, but their failure to make a long-term commitment puts the healthcare of over 400,000 Manhattan residents in jeopardy. Together our community has been fighting back against Beth Israel's shutdown, and today's announcement allows more time to urge the State government to intervene and protect our neighbors. I remain firm in my position that the closure of Beth Israel would have devastating consequences and that mitigations proposed by Mount Sinai remain wholly insufficient to support residents in maintaining their health and wellbeing. It will take years for existing alternative healthcare providers to scale up their infrastructure to meet the demand that will be placed on them, and the State must intervene to halt Mount Sinai's hasty efforts to close the hospital down. The State must ensure that mechanisms are in place to provide accountability for essential healthcare services before any reduction in services is permitted."

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine also made a statement: