In a significant move to reform the city’s correctional system, Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a new hospital unit dedicated to city inmates. This cutting-edge facility, valued at $250 million, is located within Bellevue Hospital and is designed to deliver specialized medical care, including oncology, cardiology, and neurology. It also emphasizes the importance of access to therapeutic environments for prisoners.

The Bellevue unit, housing 104 beds, is the inaugural installment in a trio of “outposted therapeutic housing units” aimed at improving inmate care. City Hall regards this development as a pivotal action towards closing the beleaguered Rikers Island jail complex.

“This new clinical facility at Bellevue Hospital represents our commitment to closing Rikers Island,” Mayor Mamdani stated. “We are moving forward with concrete actions, not just promises.”

Initially reported by The City, the Bellevue project, now complete after enduring years of delay, comes with a hefty price tag of $241 million. The unit is strategically situated on Bellevue’s second floor.

Further expansions are on the horizon, with additional units planned at Woodhull Hospital and North Central Bronx Hospital. These will collectively provide 236 more beds, enhancing the city’s capacity to offer specialized care to inmates.

Currently, an alarming 20% of the over 7,000 inmates at Rikers Island are battling serious mental health issues. This statistic underscores the urgency of the new facilities, as testified by Stanley Richards, City Council’s Department of Correction Commissioner, who noted that the facilities are operating at unprecedented levels not seen in over a decade.

“For too long, people with serious medical needs have been left to suffer in a system that was never designed to care for them,” he said.