Yesterday, St. Vincent's announced that starting today, "St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan emergency department, in coordination with the NYS Department of Health and FDNY EMS, will be placed on permanent diversion of ambulances for all services except for behavioral health. The ED will remain fully functional with the ability to treat and admit all walk-in patients as needed.” Instead, ambulances will take patients to Beth-Israel, Roosevelt, NY Downtown or Bellevue.
Crain's says, "Downtown, which is two miles from St. Vincent's, has enough capacity for an additional 20,000 people a year, or 50% more than its current volume," and Beth Israel and Roosevelt, which are both managed by Continuum Health Partners, have seen a spike in the volume because ambulances were already starting to avoid St. Vincent's. The hospital had announced its plan to close many of its services earlier this week.
An EMT told NY1,"For me, I'm done. I wouldn't want to work for any other hospital in New York City as a paramedic. This was my home. I've been here for years. And I'm not going to work anywhere else."
