’Beyonce’ rooms put newborns at risk, nurses say

New York Daily News, October 19, 2012

Affluent new moms are receiving nearly one-on-one nursing care in a suite running $1,700-a-night at the Lenox Hill Hospital. some nurses charge this is at the expense of less fortunate mothers. Two floors above, up to 18 newborns are sometimes tended by a single nurse. By contract, nurses aren?t supposed to care for more than eight babies at once, said Eileen Toback, chief of staff of the New York Professional Nurses Union. The union is in contentious contract talks with the hospital. Fitch Ratings last month noted the hospital ran up a $19 million budget gap last year and is $7 million in the hole so far this year.