Author: Rachel Quigley
Luxury suites for VIPs,
which are referred to as "Beyoncé suites" at a New York clinic,
allegedly place mothers and babies at risk due to staffing issues.
Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital,
where Beyoncé gave birth to her daughter Blue Ivy in January,
offers affluent mothers full-service rooms costing up to $1,700 a day,
with a dedicated nurse assigned to each mother and child.
But according to seasoned nurses, this service is provided at the expense of less affluent mothers and their children, who are in the general maternity ward.
VIP: The Manhattan Lenox Hill Hospital,
where Beyoncé gave birth to her daughter Blue Ivy in January,
offers affluent mothers rooms with full service costing up to $1,700 per day.
Luxury Suite: Lenox Hill Hospital offers VIP clients a special suite,
designed in the style of Four Seasons penthouses,
which had its trial run in January,
when Beyoncé gave birth to her daughter.
Amenities: There are four flat-screen TVs, modern appliances, a small kitchen, exquisite décor, mahogany walls, luxurious furnishings, and a separate bed for the father.
On the sixth floor of the hospital, one nurse sometimes has to look after 18 babies at the same time, while each nurse should be responsible for no more than eight newborns, says the New York Daily News. Nurses say,
that the lives of mothers and children are consequently put at unjustified risk.
‘It's a huge stress,’ shared with the publication a nurse who has worked at Lenox Hill for several decades. ‘There are too many babies, and you physically can't do everything necessary for them.’ According to another nurse, the hospital management does not care about 99% of the patients, ‘for them, only the remaining one percent exists.’
The difference between the general maternity ward and the private room on the fourth floor is obvious. In the ‘Beyonce suite’,
how it is called by the clinic staff, the floors are made of light wood, the furniture is of dark wood, and the walls are decorated in a cream color. Other rooms, which are called "Park Avenue Style Studio" or premium luxury rooms by the clinic, are equipped with various amenities, such as a microwave oven, a plasma TV, a coffee machine; there are also terry robes provided for the patients. The nurses claim that they were prepared three weeks ago and are intended for renting out to wealthy clients.
Lenox Hill: The Upper East Side clinic has 632 beds; last year, 3,848 babies were born here. Primarily, the clinic caters to middle and upper-class patients.
Other famous patients: Lady Gaga was born here in 1986. Joan Rivers, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Tina Fey also had their children at this clinic.
In one of the reviews on the internet portal Yelp, a former patient of the clinic recommended paying for a private room, citing that "it pays for itself,"
потому что к ‘тебе относятся, как к члену королевской семьи’.
Расположенная на четвертом этаже частная палата класса люкс стоит $850, в то время как стоимость пребывания в палате премиум-люкс составляет $1,400, а в ‘палате Бейонсе’ – $1,750. Ранее в этом году источники, близкие к больнице, сообщали TMZ, что палата не была построена специально для певицы, но подразумевалось, что именно Бейонсе станет первой пациенткой, которая ею воспользуется.
В стоимость палаты входит постоянное нахождение медсестры рядом с пациенткой. Говорят,
что в результате приходится иногда отвлекать медсестер от работы в общем родильном отделении и направлять их в более дорогие палаты.
На шестом этаже расположены двухместные палаты, стоимость пребывания в которых обычно покрывается страховкой.
Небольшие одноместные палаты на этом же этаже,
не покрываемые страховкой,
обходятся в $712 за ночь,
а стоимость одной более просторной палаты составляет $1,300.
Эйлин Тобэк,
глава Профсоюза медсестер Нью-Йорка,
сообщила Daily News,
что ‘отделения очень загружены,
Nurses and other auxiliary staff are lacking. ‘Moreover, the upper floor further exacerbates the situation.
And we have to yield.'
The clinic in the Upper East Side is designed for 632 beds; last year 3,848 babies were born here.
Mainly,
the clinic caters to middle and upper-class patients.
Clinic representative Barbara Osborn insists
that staffing luxury rooms in no way affects the staffing levels of the general maternity ward.
'There has never been a case,
‘So that our general maternity ward would experience a shortage of hands,’ she says.
‘The number of incoming patients here changes continuously,
therefore many hospitals rotate staff according to their patients' needs,
this is standard practice.’
‘Visitors occasionally ask about the ‘Beyoncé room’.
There is no other name for this room.’
Lady Gaga was born here in 1986.
Joan Rivers,
Sarah Jessica Parker, and Tina Fey also gave birth to their children in this clinic.
Lenox Hill Clinic serves 325,000 patients annually.
