To: Dr. Ken Davis, CEO Mt. Sinai,

The residents of Mt. Sinai West-St. Luke's are writing today to bring urgent attention to a major issue facing our community.  Manhattan has the highest rent and cost of living in the entire United States! As resident physicians, we cannot afford to live in the city we serve without the benefit of subsidized housing from Mt. Sinai. We cannot imagine how after all of the recent discussions with Mt. Sinai faculty and leadership surrounding resident wellness how our housing stability and community are being threatened by the very institution that promised they would work on our behalf to promote wellness. We cannot understand how at such a vulnerable and critical time Mt. Sinai can justify increasing the cost of resident housing by 30-40% and increasing our salaries by only 2%. Every day we see the effects on our patient's who are making tough choices between paying the rent and other bills, and forcing residents into the same predicament is shameful.

After sharing images of roach-infested floors, vermin in traps, gaping holes in the walls of our units and on the floors, your administration still has the audacity to suggest that our new rents would match “market-standards.” Beyond the unimaginable comparison between our housing quality and the surrounding areas housing stock, you must remember that we are also not the average market! We are highly specialized individuals that work exceptionally long hours for salaries far below local median wages.

One of the reasons we have previously fought so hard for subsidized housing is because interns and residents are already struggling financially whether it is because they are straddled by student loans, immigrating to a foreign country, or fighting to raise a family in one of the most expensive cities in the world. We fight every day for this hospital. We wake up early. We stay up late. Increasing our rent by such as astronomical proportion would have us paying around 50% of our salary for housing, making us heavily rent burdened.

Maintaining affordable housing is critical for our capacity to learn, maintain wellness and simultaneously provide the best care for our patients. We cannot agree to these housing increases. The proposal to increase resident housing by such an egregious amount is not only disrespectful to our residents and the service we provide, but it is dangerous for our patients. Given the housing crisis that already exists in this city, and the high rate of physician dissatisfaction and issues surrounding wellness that have been blatantly apparent lately throughout Mt. Sinai residency programs, we are positive that the public, the press and the elected officials will be on our side!

Dr. Davis, you have the opportunity here to stand by Mt. Sinai's promise to their residents and fight for our well being. You have the authority to make this a priority and we are demanding that you stand by the promise that Mt. Sinai made to us and rescind the rent increase for current and future house staff. We're requesting a time to meet with us to discuss this issue BEFORE sending housing notices out to incoming interns at the end of March.