Brooklyn hospitals’ planned shrinkage paused to tackle coronavirus
A $700 million state-brokered plan to consolidate services at three struggling Brooklyn hospitals was suddenly altered on Wednesday to mobilize to treat an expected wave of coronavirus patients, officials said.
Management at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Crown Heights alerted staff that a planned June 30 shuttering of several non-emergency medical services is being postponed, said Eric Smith, a union field director with the New York State Nurses Association.
Not only will the facility remain open to help treat an expected surge of coronavirus patients, but a unit with 30 beds that’s been dormant for a decade is scheduled to reopen, he told THE CITY.