Maimonides Health Community Leader Town Hall with President & CEO, Kenneth D. Gibbs

June 20, 2023

Brooklynites and various community leaders gathered for an annual town hall at Maimonides Medical Center on June 20, where they hailed the institution for providing outstanding care, and called for adequate funding from the state government.

Maimonides President and CEO Ken Gibbs spoke at the Borough Park gathering, highlighting the medical center’s place as the largest healthcare provider in Brooklyn, and their deep connections with the diverse community they serve.

“For every one of us at Maimonides, we really treasure the fact that we have such a diverse array of communities but that means we have to work hard to stay connected,” Gibbs told Brooklyn Paper.

And the community recognized that work.

Grisel Amador, executive director at United Senior Citizenships of Sunset Park, spoke about the excellent care that local senior citizens receive at Maimonides.

“I don’t have any questions because thank God we already have the answer. That is how excellent the relationship with the staff is,” Amador said.

Beyond caring for older Brooklynites, Amador said, the medical center also ensures that every New Yorker feels welcome, and knows that they’re in good hands, with proactive measures — such as providing literature on nutrition and offering informative classes, along with utilizing Spanish speaking healthcare professionals at the center.

“The hospital is always checking what we need, what the community needs in order to provide for the community,” Amador gushed.

In addition to their stellar care, the medical center has taken great steps in improving their services elsewhere — expanding their emergency services, bettering their dining and food care, improving air-conditioning that brings more comfort, and developing an all-in-one app for patients to access necessities at their fingertips.

Despite developing a well-earned reputation for providing extraordinary care for patients, Maimonides, like many other hospitals, has financially suffered from a confluence of different factors — namely the pandemic, rising labor costs, and the confounding way hospitals are reimbursed for their care.

“Tonight is an opportunity for us to spend time with leaders in the different communities and talk about the state of the industry [and] where we are in terms of providing care, and to talk about the combination of incredible accomplishments and very challenging times,” Gibbs said.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on every medical provider, with Maimonides, located at the cross-section of many of the country’s hardest-hit communities, getting particularly distressed.

At the same time, labor costs for hospitals have increased more than two-fold.

Making matters worse, safety-net hospitals, like Maimonides, serve many patients who are uninsured, or are insured by programs like Medicaid and Medicare. That has long been a point of pride for Maimonides, as they are the premier healthcare provider for communities that need it most — but also means that they lack some of the resources as large health systems serving wealthier communities.

That has led many community members and hospital leaders to urge state leadership to increase their funding, so they can continue providing their unique care for residents of Brooklyn and beyond.

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Community leaders praise Maimonides, call for adequate funding