{"id":866581,"date":"2026-10-01T02:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T02:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866581\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T02:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T02:50:09","slug":"blakeman-opposes-hochul-backed-city-takeover-of-maimonides-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866581\/","title":{"rendered":"Blakeman opposes Hochul-backed city takeover of Maimonides hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman opposes the Gov. Kathy Hochul-backed New York City takeover of Brooklyn\u2019s financially ailing Maimonides hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The New York State Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) recently approved the proposal to make Maimonides Health part of the city\u2019s public hospital system \u2014 NYC Health + Hospitals.<\/p>\n

Last fall, Hochul announced a $2.2 billion grant available for Maimonides to join Health + Hospitals, a massive subsidy intended to meet payroll and keep the lights on during the transition.<\/p>\n

Bruce Blakeman and Jewish leaders oppose a Gov. Hochul-backed plan for NYC Health + Hospitals to take over Brooklyn\u2019s Maimonides Medical Center. James Messerschmidt for NY Post<\/p>\n

But Blakeman said Maimonides in Borough Park \u2014 named after the famous Jewish philosopher and physician \u2013 \u2014 should remain a privately-run hospital and not be turned over to the city\u2019s government-run hospital system.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hochul \u2014 against the wishes of the local Boro Park community \u2014 is leading a state takeover of Maimonides Medical Center, a world-class private teaching hospital with over a century of service,\u201d Blakeman, the current Nassau County executive said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife was also born at Maimonides, making this hospital for especially meaningful to our family. The Governor\u2019s refusal to listen to the community will lead to inferior healthcare for the residents who have relied on the hospital decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

He vowed, \u201cWhen I am elected Governor I will stop this takeover and return the hospital to the top notch facility it has always been,\u201d Blakeman said.<\/p>\n

The controversy has even reached President Trump.<\/p>\n

During a recent visit to the White House, rabbis from Borough Park told the president\u2019s domestic advisors they didn\u2019t want the city to take over Maimonides, according to a source.<\/p>\n

Gov. Hochul last year announced a $2.2 billion grant for Maimonides to merge with Health + Hospitals. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Maimonides has a long history of serving the Orthodox Jewish community in southern Brooklyn, particularly Borough Park, with many residents born there. It has a kosher kitchen.<\/p>\n

However, it is considered a financially distressed hospital with a large caseload of Medicaid or lower-income patients.<\/p>\n

Many other residents from growing Asian and Hispanic communities also rely on Maimonides.<\/p>\n

The debate over the <\/a>hospital\u2019s leadership and future has raged for years as its financial condition worsened. <\/p>\n

The Nassau County executive said Hochul\u2019s planned takeover is \u201cagainst the wishes of the local Boro Park community.\u201d Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post<\/p>\n

The financial trouble has been going on for years. <\/p>\n

In 2021, the hospital lost $145 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neighborhood opponents don\u2019t trust the government to run the hospital, fearing services will worsen\u2014a claim that has been rebutted by Health+Hospitals president and CEO Mitchell Katz during a recent public hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNYC Health + Hospitals is committed to preserving Maimonides\u2019 historic cultural identity and practices and to keeping these values intact as we move forward together. We want Maimonides to remain Maimonides,\u201d Katz said.<\/p>\n

The hospital has faced financial troubles in recent years, losing as much as $145 million in 2021. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Opponents have also filed litigation to stop the takeover. <\/p>\n

Two cases are pending.<\/p>\n

The planned merger was announced by former Mayor Eric Adams <\/a>during the final days of his tenure.<\/p>\n

The state attorney general or the courts have to give final approval to transfer Maimonides\u2019 assets to Health+Hospitals, sources said. <\/p>\n

Hochul defended her support of the Maimonides-Health+Hospitals merger.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGovernor Hochul is committed to saving Maimonides, which is why she directed billions of dollars in support for them while their Board found a partner who could provide a sustainable path forward,\u201d a Hochul spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the standard regulatory review process and direct engagement with the community, New York City Health and Hospitals has agreed to become the operator of Maimonides Medical Center and Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital. This transaction, which was the best and only way to stabilize Maimonides, will help protect access to essential health care in Brooklyn by strengthening the hospital\u2019s long-term financial stability, supporting critical investments in its facilities and technology, and providing additional resources to sustain and improve patient care.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s office also insisted that the merger with the city public health system is not a \u201ctakeover.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman opposes the Gov. Kathy Hochul-backed New York City takeover of Brooklyn\u2019s financially ailing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[365513,123890,97,252,253,1493,28861,5871,322562,249968,194],"class_list":["post-866581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-borough-park","tag-bruce-blakeman","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-hospital","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-ny-governor-election-2026","tag-nyc-health-and-hospitals","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}