'They cannot close another hospital in this area': Mount Sinai Beth Israel to close in the Lower Manhattan

LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX 11) -- The future of healthcare for thousands of residents who live near Mount Sinai Beth Israel is uncertain after the hospital announced its plans to shutter the campus in the next seven months. 

At a rally Thursday, outside the hospital, residents voiced their opposition to the closure. They say that if the hospital closes there will be just one hospital south of 23rd Street in an area that has a population of more than 400,000 people.

"They closed Cabrini, they closed St. Vincent's, they cannot close another hospital in this area."

Marcia Goldstein is a longtime patient of Mount Sinai Beth Israel who is outraged over the plans to close the hospital that has served the Lower East Side for more than a century. Goldstein says the hospital is the only emergency room within a mile of her home and other, closer, medical facilities don't provide the same emergency services.

"I went to CityMD," said Goldstein. "They can handle certain issues, but they took one look at my hand, because I had cellulitis, and they said we can't handle it. Go to the emergency room."

Gisselle Molina is a nurse at a different Manhattan hospital and worries that other hospitals in the borough could become even more swamped with patients.

"We're full,” said Molina. “We have people in our [emergency department] waiting for beds itself. So, if this closes, we're going to be super overwhelmed."

Loren Riegelhaupt, spokesperson for Mount Sinai, is citing financial strain for the need to shutter the campus.

"This decision came after over $1 billion in losses and years of debate and analysis to try and find another way forward,” said Riegelhaupt in a statement. “Unfortunately, the economics of modern healthcare are simply too much to overcome, and we must close the hospital or potentially put the entire system at risk."

Elected officials are hoping to find funding that could potentially save the hospital.

“It seems that Mount Sinai has not explored that and so my colleagues, we’ve been very frustrated that they haven’t really utilized our partnership,” Manhattan Councilmember Carlina Rivera said. 

Rivera said that she is exploring legal options to potentially delay the hospital's closure.

The State Department of Health makes the final determination regarding the closure of hospitals and tells PIX11 News that the closure plan submitted by Mount Sinai is currently under review and that it is not yet complete.