NYC’s contentious takeover of ailing Maimonides Hospital approved by state despite stiff opposition. New York City’s contentious takeover of financially ailing Maimonides Medical Center was approved by state regulators Thursday — despite stiff opposition from the Orthodox Jewish community and other nearby Brooklyn residents. As part of the merger agreement, the city’s public hospital system — Health + Hospitals — agreed to maintain kosher meals and other religious customs for the Borough Park facility with historical ties to the Jewish community. We’re here to support Maimonides,” said Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of Health + Hospitals, during a hearing in Albany. A number of rabbis and other members of the local religious community objected to the city taking over Maimonides — the largest privately-run medical facility in Brooklyn that has delivered babies and provided medical care to generations of Borough Park families. Katz — during testimony before the state Public Health and Health Planning Committee — said Maimonides will be able to collect higher Medicaid reimbursement rates as a public hospital.