Today, Save Maimonides, a grassroots effort led by Brooklyn community leaders and members, is announcing that the prominent author and philanthropist Dovid Lichtenstein will be the keynote speaker at a free community event on Monday night. Boro Park community members will gather to discuss the shocking treatment of patients at Maimonides and create a plan to improve the failing medical center. The event will be tonight Monday, August 22nd, at 7:00 pm at Ateres Chaya Hall in Brooklyn. Community members are invited at no charge. A free dinner will be provided and famed Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz will give remarks, as well.
Dovid Lichenstein, the Chairman and CEO of the Lightstone Group, joins as a keynote speaker with experience serving on the boards of several hospitals and health organizations. Dovid is also a prominent community philanthropist; he has written many seforim and is the host of the Halacha Headlines podcast.
“If you care about your family and their safety, join us Monday night,” said Dovid Lichtenstein. “Every one of you will have an occasion when you will need a hospital in a life-critical moment, you will be terrified and desperate, and your only solution may be Maimonides, the worst-rated hospital in the entire New York State — ranked 157 out of 157 hospitals. A wise man sees ahead. Now’s the time to act for your loved one’s sake.”
Save Maimonides has collected thousands of complaints alleging disturbing criticisms — from elderly people confined to their beds in boiling hot rooms to pregnant mothers in distress waiting hours for staff’s assistance. Save Maimonides is working to stop the negligence of the hospital leadership by demanding oversight and transparency.
“We hoped Maimonides CEO Kenneth Gibbs would come and hear directly from the public, and, unfortunately, hospital leadership has not responded to requests from elected officials to join a town hall meeting,” said Mendy Reiner, the Co-Chairman of Save Maimonides. “Millions have been spent by the hospital on executive payments while the hospital is understaffed and struggling to balance its budget despite unprecedented federal and state funds. There needs to be state oversight at the hospital, and the leadership needs to listen to the community’s concerns.”
The issue has attracted the attention of local elected officials; a public letter released in July by five elected officials voiced concerns constituents were receiving insufficient care. Just this week, two leading African-American elected officials sent a letter to the Department of Health demanding an investigation of Maimonides – signifying the broadening appeal of the Save Maimonides movement.
Multiple media outlets recently covered the hospital’s outrageous lack of air conditioning during a sweltering summer and the CEO’s excessive compensation for a hospital that loss money every month.
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14 Responses
The size of tonight’s crowd says nothing, if you put up the same flier with no cause with food music and famous speakers you would have a packed hall that BP the men are home it’s free entertainment
If you google “where does Maimonides rank among hospitals “ you get a completely different answer than 157/157
Multiple sites incl us news doesn’t present as bleak a picture
What’s going on here?
mentsch1, If you google you will get Maimo’s own website telling you how good they are, no else says that, also did you actually look up what US news ranks them, they rank them 1 star for patient experience, and rank #29 in NY which is the last # that they actually rank.
As someone who doesn’t live anywhere near Boro Park, this campaign sounds extremely questionable. If the masses are truly angry and upset with the hospital, why do they need to be spending thousands and thousands of dollars on dinner, entertainers, and who knows what else.
Without knowing the details, it would appear that someone wants to take control of the hospital and make millions off it. That’s why they are willing to invest so much money on this event, as the financial return will be greater than the investment.
I don’t really know, it’s not so openly weird that you need to spend so much if the masses are truly upset about any issue.
Lol, they’re even offering free dinner! I’m really curious to ultimately see who is behind this campaign and the true motives. Obviously it’s money, but the question is in what form…are they looking to close it down and buy the RE? To take over the management?
I hope that most people are not so gullible as to believe that all this money and promotion is purely for altruistic means, but from the comments above, I can see that BH people see through the charade.
Simple , it depends in what catagory, in many specilties they have good ratings , cardiology…birth..
@mentsch1
Perhaps they are measuring other metrics.
For example, they are a top destination for cardiology.
Thousands of babies are born there every year – due to location. Maybe that statistic affects the rank.
Unfortunately, there are too many stories of terrible staff attitudes, and lack of repercussions for negligent behavior.
I have had experience in several hospitals, and the emergency room at Maimo is beyond frightenting. If you prefer a more objective picture, survey Hatzoloh members who are regularly there. Find out about their preferences to avoid Maimo if at all possible. Ask about how much they need to intervene to make sure the patient they just brought in gets serviced.
@zaidy78
Unfortunately, the community has gotten accustomed to the issues. It’s just an accepted reality, that if you have a better option, go elsewhere. It does take effort to get people to “make noise”, and believe they can change anything. People have tried to change things in the past and were not successful.
As a Boro Park resident, and bikur cholim volunteer, l can tell you – too many of the staff are intimidating, and they have a strong union. People who have a sick relative are drained, and afraid to rock the boat. The staff has proven to be vindictive at times.
Family members are always advised (by experienced people) to bring cookies and candy for the nurses and techs. Not as appreciation. Just to increase the chance that the patient will be cared for better.
Something is terribly wrong, if the default expectation is that nurses and staff need to be bribed, and have no shame about it.
The power of greed. Its not enough that the nursing home owners is making top dollar by letting granny sit in her own feces for hours on end and serving her rewarmed frozen blintzes with tasteless jello for lunch. Now they need a hospital too.
i’m just very worried that if this does turn out to be an illegitimate campaign for any reason, that it would be a tremendous chillul hashem, and have terrible ramifications for the jewish community.
Well, I wonder if he is trying to make up for his loses, when he arrogantly bought every piece of real estate in sight in LIC when he thought Amazon was going to build a huge facility there, then was left with chafu Rosh when AOC killed the deal and he was left holding the bag.
@ lopman23
Your post is pure nonsense, perhaps with a little jealousy mixed in. Nursing homes are very regulated and there is a serious problem if a patient is left too long with feces, which creates sores that can be documented.
As for what is going on here, it is likely a PR campaign to help take over Maimo, with free food to rile up the crowd.
@NotGettingInvolved, who is “he”?