By: Daniella Doria
Maimonides Hospital, the largest hospital in Brooklyn, is in crisis and a local group set out to “Save Maimonides” is actually an organized smear-campaign according to Senator Simcha Felder
Carl Campanile of NY Post writes, “The fate of Brooklyn’s beleaguered Maimonides Medical Center is at the center of a local power struggle — that appeared to boil over Sunday when an influential state lawmaker slammed a group that has pledged to “save” the hospital as “not kosher.”
State Sen. Simcha Felder, who represents the communities around Maimonides and was born there, made the stunning comments in an interview with The Post ahead of a town hall meeting planned by the group — “Save Maimonides” — set for Monday night.
“The movement is not kosher. It’s absolutely a smear campaign,” Felder said.
The grass roots organization is using their movement to shine light on the deficits of a hospital that used to be a beacon of hope for Brooklyn residents. Felder feels that by bringing these points to everyone’s attention is not doin the hospital any favors nor is it doing anything to actually improve the situation.
Felder accused the organization of being led by “hatchet men who’ve run negative campaigns and whose goal is destroy the hospital and besmirch [Maimonides CEO] Ken Gibbs.”
“Maybe they want Ken Gibbs’ job,” added Felder.
In February, The Post reported that top executives at the Borough Park hospital were pocketing seven-figure salaries while the 700-bed facility was hemorrhaging tens of millions of dollars. CEO Ken Gibbs, for instance, saw his compensation skyrocket from $1.8 million to $3.2 million from 2019 to 2020, during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to not-for-profit financial records filed with the IRS.
Felder said the need for improvements at Maimonides is beyond dispute. He was one of five legislators who penned a letter to Gibbs last month, detailing a list of complaints including excessively long wait times pinned on staffing shortages, and fiscal mismanagement.
“Everyone agrees improvements have to be made. You fix the problem. It doesn’t mean you destroy the hospital,” Felder said.
Save Maimonides, in a statement to The New York Post, suggested that Felder is beholden to the hospital’s trustees and management who have donated to his campaigns.
“It is unfortunate that Senator Felder seems to be under pressure from his donors at the hospital, but we agree with his recent public statements regarding the poor patient treatment, financial mismanagement and indifference of the executives at Maimonides Medical Center,” the statement said.
“We hope this sudden change of heart does not mean he is also turning his back on over 2,000 of his constituents who have voiced their shock at the poor quality of care at the failing hospital in recent weeks. We have one goal – to make Maimonides better for all of its patients,” the group said.
