Community meeting set to discuss Mt. Sinai's plans for an expanded facility in the East Village

As you probably know, major changes are coming to the Mount Sinai Health System, starting with a transformation of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on Second Avenue and 14th Street...


[Rendering via Perkins Eastman]

We won't rehash all the coming changes (outlined in this post). There's an FAQ page as well that may have details you are looking for related to health care and the construction.

Tomorrow night, City Council member Rosie Mendez and CB3 are hosting a meeting to learn more about the construction timeline for the new Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel.



Reps from Mount Sinai's Real Estate and Community Affairs Departments will be on hand for the discussion, taking place from 6-7:30 p.m. in the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, 310 E. 14th St. (in the third floor conference room).

The hospital's downsizing from its campus on First Avenue and 16th Street is part of a $550 million plan by Beth Israel’s owner to adapt to a changing health care landscape where patients are using more outpatient care and spending less time in hospitals, as previously reported.

Mount Sinai will sell the 16th Street property, which has a current reported value of $600 million. Beth Israel reportedly has outstanding debt of some $200 million.

Kenneth Davis, president and chief executive officer of Mount Sinai Health System, previously stated that it will cost $250 million to build the new hospital and upgrade the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on Second Avenue and 14th Street.

Previously

More details on the incoming Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel

[The current 2nd Avenue and 14th Street complex]

On Tuesday, thanks to NY1, we all got the first look at the rendering for what will be known as Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel.

Now that some time has passed, perhaps you're ready to embrace this bold [not bonkers] new hospital for the 21st century on the southeast corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue.

Let's try this again...



There's also another rendering via the architectural firm Perkins Eastman showing the view from Second Avenue looking to the south...


[Click for the glorious details]

Let's head to the news release about all this...

Mount Sinai Health System today announced the start of the first phase of its more than $500 million project to rebuild Mount Sinai Beth Israel (MSBI) and create the new “Mount Sinai Downtown” network. The new network will consist of expanded and renovated outpatient facilities at three major sites with more than 35 operating and procedure rooms and an extensive network of 16 physician practice locations with more than 600 doctors, stretching from the East River to the Hudson River below 34th Street.



Mount Sinai Downtown will be anchored by a new MSBI inpatient hospital with operating and procedure rooms, and a brand-new state-of-the-art Emergency Department, located two blocks from the current MSBI. The transformation will also include a major investment to support and strengthen behavioral health services, anchored at MSBI’s Bernstein Pavilion. Additionally, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai will be preserved and enhanced. MSBI hospital will remain open throughout this transformation, and its emergency room will remain open until the new ED is fully operational at the new hospital.

And here are a few more areas of interest via the release...

Construction of the new Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital
Mount Sinai has retained renowned architectural firm Perkins Eastman, which will oversee design work and construction of Mount Sinai’s brand-new hospital. Pending approvals, demolition at the new site is expected to begin early 2017 with construction beginning early 2018. Construction of the new hospital is expected to be complete by late 2020. Initial renderings are available to the press and public, while the finalized renderings and designs are still being completed.

Workforce Impacts
Earlier this year, Mount Sinai confirmed that all union employees affected by the transformation would be offered other union opportunities at equal pay. Thus far, more than 150 Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital employees have accepted new opportunities at the same or higher salaries with the Mount Sinai Health System. Mount Sinai continues to work closely with all employees during this transformation.

There's an FAQ page as well that may have details you are looking for related to health care and the construction.

The hospital's downsizing from its campus on First Avenue and 16th Street is part of a $550 million plan by Beth Israel’s owner to adapt to a changing health care landscape where patients are using more outpatient care and spending less time in hospitals, as previously reported.

Mount Sinai will sell the 16th Street property, which has a current reported value of $600 million. Beth Israel reportedly has outstanding debt of some $200 million.

Kenneth Davis, president and chief executive officer of Mount Sinai Health System, previously stated that it will cost $250 million to build the new hospital and upgrade the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on Second Avenue and 14th Street.

Previously

The new Beth Israel hospital for the East Village looks pretty bonkers

As you know, officials will be closing the Mount Sinai Beth Israel campus on First Avenue and 16th Street ... and there are plans to open a smaller facility on 14th Street and Second Avenue.

Well, NY1 got the scoop on what this facility will look like on the southeast corner of 14th Street and Second Avenue... hold on tight...



Per NY1:

It will be known as Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel.

As part of a $500 million, the hospital will become a network of buildings, including a specialized care facility and with a new urgent care center, among other upgrades.

Part of this new complex will sit on space belonging to 321 E. 13th St., a 14-floor building between Second Avenue and First Avenue that houses training physicians and staff of the nearby New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. This building will be demolished.

Permits filed to demolish Mount Sinai's 13th Street residential building

In announcing plans to shutter the Mount Sinai Beth Israel campus on First Avenue and 16th Street in the coming years, officials said this past spring that they'd open a smaller, 70-bed facility on 14th Street and Second Avenue. (Mount Sinai plans to sell the 16th Street property, which is valued at about $600 million.)

Per a news release issued in May:

Central to the downtown transformation is the new, smaller Mount Sinai Downtown Beth Israel Hospital, which will include approximately 70 beds and a brand new state-of-the-art Emergency Department (ED), located at 14th Street near Second Avenue — just two blocks south of the current Beth Israel campus. This ED will accept ambulances and will be able to handle all emergencies, such as heart attack, and stroke, on site. It will also include a pediatric ED. Patients with the most complex conditions will be stabilized and transported to other hospitals in the Mount Sinai Health System.

Officials have yet to divulge the full plans as to where all this will be housed. Here's one clue: On Monday, the DOB ok'd demolition permits for 321 E. 13th St., a 14-floor building (top photo) between Second Avenue and First Avenue that houses training physicians and staff of the nearby New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.

DNAinfo, who first reported on the demolition yesterday, has the story of one of the building's residents, Billy Ortiz, a disabled former hospital employee who requires frequent dialysis treatments. Ortiz and several other residents, including some longtime nurses, say they are struggling to meet the deadline to vacate No. 321.

A hospital rep declined to specify what will be taking the place of the East 13th Street residence, DNAinfo noted.

It's also unclear how other buildings in the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai complex, such as 218 Second Ave. (below), might be impacted by the new facility.



Previously

[Updated] Mount Sinai Beth Israel officials to discuss future plans with CB3; plus, an open letter

There has been a lot of news coming out of Mount Sinai Beth Israel in recents weeks... first, officials announced that they are closing their 825-bed facility on First Avenue at East 16th Street in the next four years.

Mount Sinai Health System plans to replace the existing facility by opening a smaller, 70-bed hospital on 14th Street and Second Avenue.

Yesterday, the Post reported that Mount Sinai officials have put its First Avenue properties on the market.

As a reminder, hospital reps will be on-hand tonight during a joint Community Board 3 committee meeting to discuss their future plans. The 6:30 p.m. public meeting is in the Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. at the Bowery.

Meanwhile, we heard from several residents who recently received this letter in the mail from Mount Sinai Beth Israel ...


[Click to go big]

Billed as "some exciting news for the downtown community," the letter outlines Mount Sinai Health System's $500 million investment in their services at various facilities below 34th Street...



The letter, signed by Kenneth L. Davis, president and CEO of Mount Sinai Health System, does not mention that the current facility will close in the coming years.

Updated 6-10

NY1 has a report on the meeting here.

Excerpt:

Administrators discussed some details of their plan at a community board meeting Thursday night. Saying while the current 825-bed hospital would indeed shut down — it would be replaced by a new, smaller facility nearby.

Still, many question what they see as a drastic reduction in service.

"Now they say no we're not going to be closed, but the admissions part of it, the in-house beds are going to be closed, reduced from 825 to 70," said one woman.

"I see the poor, the needy and the elderly is going to be the ones who have to travel up to Roosevelt, to all these different hospitals and the ones that's paying market rent down here they are going to be the ones that have the luxury to lay up in the new hospital with only 70 beds," said another.

We'll update with other media reports as they are posted...

Report: Mount Sinai Beth Israel ready to sell its 1st Avenue campus

[Photo from May]

The Mount Sinai Health System, as previously reported, plans to replace its existing First Avenue facility by opening a smaller hospital on 14th Street and Second Avenue in the years ahead.

Now officials have reportedly put up its First Avenue properties, which are expected to close in the next four years, on the market.

Lois Weiss at the Post had the scoop:

Real estate sources say the sale, which is expected to include that full block bordered by First and Second avenues and East 16th to East 17th streets, will also include other First Avenue properties.

Weiss reported that Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured, who brokered the $5.45 billion Stuy Town/Peter Cooper deal with Blackstone, is talking to interested investors.

While it lies opposite Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village ... the campus is also opposite the leafy and elegant Stuyvesant Square Park, making residential options enticing, especially as Stuy Town’s new owner, Blackstone, has plenty of air rights toward seeking landing strip.

There's no word yet what this prime chunk of real estate might fetch. The Real Deal noted that "hospitals make an attractive target for developers. For example, in 2014, Fortis Property Group paid $240 million for the Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill, where it plans to build residential towers."

CB3 committee to hear more about Mount Sinai Beth Israel's future plans in the neighborhood

As you know, Mount Sinai Beth Israel officials announced last week that they are closing their 825-bed facility on First Avenue at East 16th Street in the next four years.

Mount Sinai Health System plans to replace the existing facility by opening a smaller hospital on 14th Street and Second Avenue.

Per The New York Times from last week:

The plan for the new Beth Israel building calls for breaking ground in 2017. Once that is completed, the existing building, at 16th Street and First Avenue, will be sold, with the proceeds helping to offset the costs of the change, hospital officials said.

The new building will have about 70 beds with an emergency department several blocks away, officials said. It will also include expanded outpatient facilities at three sites with more than 35 operating and procedure rooms and 16 physician practice locations to be used by over 600 doctors.

You'll have a chance to hear more about these future plans from hospital officials next Thursday, June 9, during a joint Community Board 3 committee meeting.

The 6:30 p.m. meeting is in the Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. at the Bowery.

Previously

What might become of this vacant lot on East 14th Street?

A few weeks back, rat-baiting signs arrived at the long-empty lot at 326 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



We didn't think too much about it at the time.

Still, we've always wondered, though, why this lot hadn't been snapped up by a developer. So we decided to look up to see who owns this property.

According to public records, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (of Mount Sinai) a few doors away has owned the property since 1975.

Facing mounting debt and an aging infrastructure, Mount Sinai Beth Israel officials announced last week that they are closing their facility on First Avenue at East 16th Street in the next four years.

Mount Sinai Health System reportedly plans to replace the existing facility by opening a smaller hospital on 14th Street and Second Avenue "with a full-service emergency department and 70 inpatient beds."

In addition, hospital officials have placed Gilman Hall, an apartment building it uses to house medical residents, up for sale. The 24-story property, at the corner of East 17th Street and First Avenue, could fetch as much as $80 million, per Crain's.

So this is just speculation. Perhaps Mount Sinai will sell off this chunk of real estate to help offset costs of the new facility a few buildings to the west. Or perhaps they will use this space to build a facility. Or maybe they are just rats here and the lot will remain empty.

Report: Mount Sinai Beth Israel is closing in 4 years; smaller facility planned for 14th and 2nd

The rumors turned out to be true: Mount Sinai Beth Israel is closing its facility on First Avenue at East 16th Street.

Here's NY1 with the scoop:

"What we are dealing with is an infrastructure that is old, a facility that isn't efficient and it lives in the most competitive environment on planet earth in health care," said Mount Sinai Beth Israel CEO Dr. Kenneth Davis.

The hospital essentially has been on life support for years, losing $250 million since 2012. Now its owner, Mount Sinai Health System, is pulling the plug and announcing plans to close it in four years.

Hospital officials say the closure of the facility is the only option financially. With how treatment is changing Mount Sinai Beth Israel is in an evolve or die situation.

Davis said that only 60 percent of the hospital's 856 beds are used on a daily basis.

Mount Sinai Health System reportedly plans to replace the existing facility by opening a smaller hospital on 14th Street and Second Avenue "with a full-service emergency department and 70 inpatient beds."

According to NY1, Mount Sinai will also expand its Ambulatory Care Center in Union Square.

Meanwhile, Crain's is reporting that hospital officials have placed Gilman Hall, an apartment building it uses to house medical residents, up for sale.

Per Crain's:

The 24-story property, at the corner of East 17th Street and First Avenue, could fetch as much as $80 million.

Citing several anonymous nurses, The Villager reported on May 13 that the hospital would be closing. A Mount Sinai spokesperson would neither confirm or deny the report at that time.

Updated 5 p.m.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the 16th Street facility/property could fetch up to $600 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Mount Sinai Beth Israel 'will cut its inpatient capacity' (33 comments)

Report: Mount Sinai Beth Israel 'will cut its inpatient capacity'

Mount Sinai Beth Israel officials are expected to make an announcement soon "that it will cut its inpatient capacity after the hospital lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two years," Crain's reports.

This announcement is expected within the next two weeks, based on a message sent to union members by the New York State Nurses Association, per Crain's.

The timing comes after a report in the current issue of The Villager, which, citing three anonymous nurses, reported that the facility would be closing.

According to Crain's, top Mount Sinai officials refuted that story in an email sent to faculty, staff and students... a copy which Crain's republished:

“We are well aware of the understandable stress and confusion that has been caused by an inaccurate story in today’s Villager newspaper. We are working on a plan which will enhance existing services and develop new facilities in the Mount Sinai Beth Israel community. In the meantime, there will be no disruption in any of our patient care services.”

However, as Crain's pointed out, the email doesn't directly address whether the 856-bed teaching hospital will downsize.

As Gothamist noted: "since St. Vincent's Hospital shuttered in 2010, following a series of increasing layoffs, there have been just a handful of hospitals serving Lower Manhattan, the largest being Mount Sinai Beth Israel" at First Avenue and East 16th Street.

The former St. Vincent's is on its way to becoming a luxury condo complex called Greenwich Lane.



Imagine what developers would pay for Mount Sinai Beth Israel ... with its views of Stuyvesant Square Park off Second Avenue..