Montefiore Bronx Nurses Speak Out About Cuts to Beds and Services That Put Patient Care at Risk
For Immediate Release: Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
Contact: Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
MONTEFIORE BRONX NURSES SPEAK OUT ABOUT CUTS TO BEDS AND SERVICES THAT PUT PATIENTS AT RISK
With number of patients in hallways increasing and overcrowded emergency departments and hospital floors, Montefiore nurses condemn restructuring plan that will eliminate more beds, potentially make conditions worse for Bronx patients
Nurses speak out ahead of Montefiore cutting hospital beds on March 15
Bronx, N.Y.– Dozens of Montefiore Bronx nurses and allies spoke out today to save hospital beds and services and end overcrowding in the emergency departments and hospital floors at Montefiore Moses and Weiler. Montefiore recently announced a “restructuring” plan that could negatively impact patient care in the Bronx. Montefiore plans to eliminate hospital beds and some essential healthcare services, including some surgical and palliative care services, at Montefiore Moses in the Bronx.
NYSNA nurses from Montefiore Moses and Weiler hospitals, CIR/SEIU healthcare workers, and community and elected allies including Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, New York City Council Member Eric Dinowitz, Northwest Bronx Community Clergy Coalition, Mekong NYC, CIR/SEIU and NYS Poor People's Campaign/Nonviolent Medicaid Army gathered to demand that Montefiore preserve beds and services at Moses and end overcrowding in Bronx hospitals. Montefiore’s emergency department is the busiest in the city and the ninth busiest in the U.S.
Right now, Montefiore Moses and Weiler have overcrowded emergency departments and patients waiting in hallways for care—a situation that has gotten worse since last year. Montefiore Moses and Weiler sometimes have more than 500 and 600 patients packed into hallways and “overflow” areas not intended for patient care per month. Although management promised to reduce the number of patients in hallways in the contract nurses won in 2023, the situation is worse this year than last year.
Linda Appau, RN, works on the medical-surgical unit that is slated to close on March 15. She said: “Soon, 37 beds will be gone—just gone! Fewer beds means less care. It means more patients waiting in hallways. We need more beds overall to reduce wait times and hallway stays for our patients. Bronx patients deserve better. Montefiore needs to invest in more beds and nurses here in the Bronx!”
John Lee, RN, an emergency department nurse at Moses for the last two years, said: “On a daily basis, just to get through the hallways you have to move around stretchers, navigate over beds, and past patients who are undergoing, in sometimes humiliating ways, what should be private exams. It’s disrespectful and undignified, and patients and their families deserve better. Nurses care about our patients and care deeply about this community, and if Monte cared they would keep the beds and listen to their nurses.”
NYSNA nurses learned earlier this month that Montefiore applied to close an additional 10 patient beds. If their application is approved by the state, that would mean 47 beds will soon close.
Una Davis, RN, local NYSNA chair at Montefiore Moses and a nurse whose step-down unit is losing hospital beds, said: “We still don’t know all the details of Montefiore’s plan, but what we learn makes the plan seem worse and worse by the week. At first, they said they were eliminating 37 beds. We recently learned they are trying to get approval to eliminate another 10 beds. That could be 47 patient beds gone! Montefiore needs to make a better plan—a plan that helps the nurses deliver the quality care every patient deserves.”
Nurses contend that Montefiore has the space and the resources to add more hospital beds and nurses to its hospitals in the Bronx to reduce overcrowding. Years ago, the spaces they use now for executive suites and administration were used for patient care. Montefiore is investing in a major expansion at White Plains Hospital in Westchester. The plan will double the emergency room and add 144 patient beds, paid for in part by a tax-free bond. They also entered a partnership with Amazon One Medical to bring more urgent care centers to Westchester. Amazon One Medical does not accept Medicaid.
Phiona Hunnigan-McFarlane, RN, a nurse at Montefiore Weiler who worked on a unit that was cut from Moses in 2022 but reopened in 2023, said: “Closing beds down then made no sense, and it makes no sense now. I’ve been to Montefiore hospitals in Westchester, and they do not look or feel like this. It seems like Montefiore administrators can figure it out in Westchester. Our Bronx patients deserve that too. I want to see what our leadership talks about on paper—about our core values of equity—reflected in the real world.”
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: “Nurses believe that every patient is a VIP. Your zip code, your race or ethnicity, or whether you pay for healthcare with private insurance or Medicaid should not determine whether you can access safe, quality care or face overcrowded conditions and long wait times. Montefiore needs to do the right thing and reconsider these cuts that could negatively impact our patients in the Bronx.”
Assembly Member George Alvarez, said: “I look forward to working together with the New York State Nurses Association and Monte to find meaningful solutions in continuing to provide access to comprehensive healthcare that Bronx residents deserve.”
Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, said: “Our Bronx community deserves quality healthcare that puts patients first. Reducing essential medical and surgical beds while increasing ICU capacity is not a real solution—it’s a trade-off that will lead to longer wait times and overcrowded conditions. I stand with NYSNA nurses in calling on Montefiore to expand, not reduce, services and beds in the Bronx. Patients should receive care in hospital rooms, not in hallways. We must ensure every resident can access safe, dignified, high-quality healthcare.
“Our nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system, and we stand in full solidarity with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) in their fight for safe staffing and quality healthcare for all patients at Montefiore Medical Center, especially in the Bronx and lower Hudson Valley,” said New York City Council Member Kevin C. Riley. “With the Bronx continuing to rank at the bottom of health statistics in New York, it's clear our communities need more services and adequate staffing to meet the growing demand. We call on Montefiore to expand services, increase hospital beds, and ensure safe staffing levels to provide the dignified, life-saving care our residents deserve.”
The Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition said: “For our members, access to affordable healthcare is not just a policy issue—it is a matter of survival. Montefiore Medical Center's plan to restructure is expected to exacerbate already long wait times and contribute to more patients being treated in hallways—threatening the quality and accessibility of care in the Bronx. Patients in the Bronx and everywhere deserve full-service and fully-staffed hospitals with a range of essential healthcare services to support residents from the beginning to the end of life.”
“Healthcare is a HUMAN RIGHT, we all deserve to be treated RIGHT! MONTE: do better. We need investment and resources to support the frontline, on the ground staff and patients in the community. Providing equitable and accessible healthcare for all the communities should be your priority, not profit,” said Thida Virak, Director of Direct Service and Advocacy, Mekong NYC.
Kelly Smith, Nonviolent Medicaid Army and NYS Poor People's Campaign, said: “Shame on Montefiore for reducing these essential healthcare services. Our entire healthcare system is currently under attack. Medicaid is under attack as we speak, and we know that Medicaid cuts equal death. Now more than ever we need our hospitals to step up and provide the best care, the most dignified care possible! Send a message that Montefiore cares about the community and won't put profits before people! Bronx residents deserve BETTER!"
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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.