Brooklyn’s Maimonides Medical Center on Thursday cleared a major hurdle to becoming part of the city’s public hospital system, even as the long-discussed merger remains contentious in the surrounding community of Borough Park.
The state’s Public Health and Health Planning Council, which oversees certain healthcare transactions, voted to approve the proposed merger with NYC Health and Hospitals. The merger still requires court approval before it can be finalized.
Maimonides, a 700-bed teaching hospital with roots going back to the early 20th century, has become a centerpiece of Brooklyn’s healthcare system. But at a planning council hearing last month, state Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri emphasized that Maimonides is struggling financially and needs a lifeline. The proposed merger would come with $2.2 billion in funding from the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Leaders at Maimonides and NYC Health and Hospitals celebrated the planning council’s endorsement. By joining the public hospital system, they said, Maimonides will become eligible for higher reimbursement rates under the Medicaid program.
They also said Maimonides patients will have access to a more sophisticated medical records system and will benefit from much-needed renovations to the hospital's bustling maternity ward.
Unionized workers at Maimonides have come out in support of the deal, with members of the New York State Nurses Association and 1199SEIU testifying at last month’s hearing that the crowded hospital needs more resources.
“We are in full support of protecting continuity of care and preservation of nursing jobs at Brooklyn’s only Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma center,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement ahead of Thursday’s vote.
But a contingent of Maimonides’ board of trustees, along with religious leaders in Borough Park’s Orthodox Jewish community and other critics, have fought the merger and tried to stop it in court.
Critics have argued that NYC Health and Hospitals doesn’t have the financial resources or reputation to help improve conditions at Maimonides and keep it afloat once state funding runs out, and have raised concerns about whether Maimonides will continue to serve its Jewish patients with the same cultural competency it does now.
Martin Bienstock, an attorney representing the Coalition to Preserve Maimonides, said the Planning Council’s vote in favor of the deal was expected.
“Yet no one should mistake today’s vote for the end of this process,” Bienstock said. “Major legal, financial, and public-interest questions remain unanswered that have shadowed this proposal from the beginning.”
He added that the coalition will “continue to pursue every appropriate legal, regulatory, and public avenue to oppose an unlawful takeover of Brooklyn’s community hospital.”
