Contentious Brooklyn Hospital Closure Delayed Again: Activists

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A contentious plan to close most of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center has seemingly been delayed yet again, giving activists a small win in their ongoing fight to stop the closure.

One Brooklyn Health, at a meeting on Monday with union leaders, said they were pushing back a previously-circulated timeline to close down medical beds at the facility in May, according to the activist coalition Save Kingsbrook.

The delay is at least the third time the closure, part of a merger of Central Brooklyn's health system, has been put off.

For Save Kingsbrook, it comes with continued fears surrounding the transparency of the plans, but also a reprieve in the efforts to mobilize, activists said.

"Every time they cancel a planned closure, that’s a victory for services for the community staying a little longer and giving more time to get the word out," said Julie Keefe, a nurse at Kingsbrook. "Still so many people don’t know...that hospital is going to close."

The plan to eliminate all medical beds at Kingsbrook was first postponed at the height of the coronavirus last year. It was eventually revamped in the fall, but a new January closure date was soon delayed again, according to reports at the time.

When asked about the update to the timeline given this week, the state health department said there is stillno official date for the closure.

“We continue to consult with One Brooklyn about the timing of the closure of medical surgical services at Kingsbrook," Department of Health Spokesperson Jonah Bruno said. "One Brooklyn has not yet established a firm date for this closure as it continues to monitor the pandemic."

The Kingsbrook closure is part of a $700-million state plan to consolidate three hospitals in Brooklyn announced in 2018. The state also plans to use the transformation of Kingsbrook's medical campus to build affordable housing in place of several of its facilities slated for demolition.

But activists, including hospital staff and patients, have pushed back against the merger, saying it would eliminate services in a neighborhood already seen as a healthcare desert.

Plans for the merger show it will mean a net loss of more than 200 beds between all three hospitals, most of which will be eliminated from Kingsbrook.

The activists campaign has only intensified given the hospital's capacity of coronavirus patients. Kingsbrook's Intensive Care Unit is 95 percent full, according to federal data.

"To close it during the pandemic is truly egregious, but in any time...Why are we closing a hospital in a medically underserved area?" Keefe said. "The closure of Kingsbrook will worsen healthcare inequality."

Keefe said One Brookyn officials did not give a specific new timeline for the closure. They have told staff that they will give a 30-day notice before the official date and that new admissions will be halted three weeks before that date, Keefe said.

Kingsbrook did not respond to a request for comment.