State Urged To Halt Plan To Cut Inwood Psych Unit, Report Says

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY – Plans to shutter an upper Manhattan hospital's psychiatric unit are being fought by city politicians who wrote to the state to say they were afraid the closure would leave untreated patients on the streets, according to a report.

The New York Post reported that a letter signed by more than half a dozen lawmakers was sent to the state's Mental Health Commissioner Ann Marie Sullivan opposing the proposal to close The Allen Hospital's 30 bed unit.

Among signatories are Inwood's State Senator Marisol Alcantara and Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa, the Post reported.

The say it will rob the area of vital health services and alternatives are not enough to absorb the unit's patients.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital filed plans with the state Department of Health late last year to decertify the unit, which is located on Broadway near West 220th Street, and replace it with a labor and delivery unit, two C-section rooms and neonatal intensive care unit, according to plans filed with the state.

The $70 million plan would also allow the hospital to construct four surgical operating rooms and support rooms.

The hospital's plan has local community members, politicians and advocates worried about a loss of mental health resources in Uptown Manhattan and the South Bronx. Alcantara and De La Rosa called the plan "deeply worrisome" in a joint statement issued last week. The state representatives also cited New York-Presbyterian's previous statements identifying behavioral health services as a priority need in northern Manhattan.

"New York-Presbyterian claims that eliminating the 30 inpatient psychiatric beds at Allen Hospital can be easily absorbed throughout their system. Yet it seems unlikely that Allen Hospital patients would have a convenient, nearby location for them to go for their mental health needs," the statement said.

The next closest hospital would be Columbia University Medical Center on West 168th Street, which has seen an increase in inpatient discharge rates, according to the joint statement. Alcantara and De La Rosa also doubted that Allen Hospital patients would be able to make the trip to New York-Presbyterian's hospital in White Plains, which houses the majority of the system's psychiatric beds. The statement was also signed by the Manhattan and Bronx borough presidents and three City Council members.

A New York-Presbyterian spokesperson said last week: "The behavioral health services we provide to the Northern Manhattan community will continue to include inpatient and outpatient care. Patients will be evaluated and receive services where most appropriate for their needs and according to each patient's choice."

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