Wealthy, expecting moms in New York City can live like Queen Bey in the "Beyonce" birthing suites at Lenox Hill Hospital -- plush rooms that can run up to $1,700 per night with a full service staff. However, less fortunate moms and their newborns are reportedly being put at risk.
Veteran nurses at Lenox Hill Hospital claim that while flocks of nurses tend to one baby in the "Beyonce" birthing suite, one nurse must care for up to 18 newborns just two floors above, the New York Daily News reports. A single nurse is only supposed to work with up to eight babies at one time.
In September, Fitch Ratings noted the hospital had an annual operating loss of $7.1 million, Reuters reported.
"[Nurses] have been saying they (hospital executives) don’t care about the 99%, they only care about the 1%," one nurse told the Daily News. “Go ahead and make money — but don’t make money at the expense of everyone else,” said another.
Hospital spokeswoman Barbara Osborn insists: “At no point was our maternity unit understaffed,” she told the outlet. "Due to the fluid nature of patient volume in maternity units, it is standard procedure for all hospitals to have the flexibility to move staff to best serve the needs of their patients."
Beyonce gave birth to baby Blue Ivy in a Lenox Hill Hospital "executive suite," Us Weekly previously confirmed.
The lavish room featured four flat-screen TVs, gray carpeting, cream sofas, mahogany walls, wood cabinets, terry cloth robes and a kitchenette complete with a microwave and coffemaker.
When Beyonce gave birth in January, others at the hospital complained about how Lenox Hill catered to the superstar singer and her family.
“It was just really disgusting,” Rozz Nash-Coulon, who was giving birth around the same time as Beyonce, told the New York Times. “We really believe the hospital is culpable in this because they didn’t let us know what was happening. And the security of our children is at risk..."
Spokeswoman Ann Silverman insisted that Lenox Hill cares about each and every individual. “We’re dedicated to providing high-quality care to every patient,” she told the Times. “And we’re dedicated to everyone receiving the privacy that they deserve.”
A separate statement on the Lenox Hill Hospital website reads: "Lenox Hill Hospital is committed to providing a high standard of patient care to a socio-economically and ethnically diverse patient population."
Lenox Hill Hospital is not the only center to offer luxury birthing suites, the Daily Beast noted in May. Nashville's Women's and Children’s Hospital at Centennial has a 24/7 concierge; Rose Medical Center in Denver has private chefs and Jacuzzi tubs; and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has a “food ambassador” who wears a tuxedo when serving clientele.