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Mount Sinai CEO Says 800-Bed Hospitals Are Not the Future of Healthcare
Kenneth L. Davis MD, president and chief executive officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, talks about the future of Beth Israel Hospital after its Union Square building closes and it relocates to a much smaller location.
Dr. Davis took issue with last week's reports about the coming closure of Beth Israel. It was reported that the hospital, which currently has upwards of 800 beds, will downsize to 70 or so beds. Davis says the hospital currently has about 400 patients, and the downsizing plan includes 70 regular beds plus 140 psych beds, which means it will accommodate 180 or so fewer beds than today.
"Clearly it won't be under-bedded," he said.
Ultimately, the monolithic 800-bed hospitals are not representative of the future of healthcare, said Dr. Davis. Closing Beth Israel, which was built largely in the 1920s and expanded in the 1960s, will leave behind an outdated infrastructure. He said Mount Sinai will be spending $500 million on an ambulatory platform that surrounds downtown.