Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side of New York City--long associated with its care for the area's elite--said it can no longer thrive as a stand-alone hospital and will join 15-hospital North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Antitrust regulators cleared the deal on Tuesday.
The partnership offers 153-year-old Lenox Hill, which is projected to lose $15 million this year, a way out of its troubles, while North-Shore Long Island gains a prime location in wealthy Manhattan. But some analysts raise the issue of whether it might be better for the healthcare system overall if Lenox Hill just shuts down, eliminating excess capacity.
"Whether it's an optimum solution in terms of a health care delivery network for Manhattan, I am not sure," Stephen Berger, chairman of a former New York commission on health-care facilities, told the New York Times.
To learn more:
- read the New York Times article