NYCs contentious takeover of ailing Maimonides Hospital approved by state despite stiff opposition
New York City’s contentious takeover of financially ailing Maimonides Medical Center was approved by state regulators Thursday — despite stiff opposition from the Orthodox Jewish community and other nearby Brooklyn residents.As part of the merger agreement, the city’s public hospital system — Health + Hospitals — agreed to maintain kosher meals and other religious customs for the Borough Park facility with historical ties to the Jewish community.“We’re not here to change Maimonides.We’re here to support Maimonides,” said Dr.
Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of Health + Hospitals, during a hearing in Albany.The merger was initiated under then-Mayor Eric Adams and supported by his successor, Zohran Mamdani, while Gov.Kathy Hochul put up a staggering $2.2 billion to subsidize Maimonides’ deficits over five years to meet payroll and keep the lights on.A number of rabbis and other members of the local religious community objected to the city taking over Maimonides — the largest privately-run medical facility in Brooklyn that has delivered babies and provided medical care to generations of Borough Park families.“Its a desperate move.
A city takeover of Maimonides will cause more problems than it solves,” said Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D-Brooklyn).Maimonides serves large immigrant Chinese, Latino and minority communities in the surrounding neighborhoods of Bensonhurst and Sunset Park as well as a big Jewish population in Borough Park.A high percentage of its patients are poor and on Medicaid, the public health insurance program for the needy that pays hospitals lower reimbursement rates than private or commercial insurers.Katz — during testimony before the state Public Health and Health Planning Committee — said Maimonides will be able to collect higher Medicaid reimbursement rates as a public hospital. It will also have the resources to upgrade its antiquated computer system, a costly endeavor, he said.Katz said Health + Hospitals wa...