NYC Hospital Opens Jail Ward for Inmates Needing Specialized Care

The opening of the new ward is a key first step in the process of closing Rikers Island.

Dr. Patricia Yang, head of Correctional Health Services, at the opening of the Bellevue outposted unit, a secure jail ward within the hospital, on April 7, 2026. Joining her are (L-R) New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Councilman Yusef Salaam, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and Department of Corrections Commissioner Stanley Richards. Nicholas Zifcak/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK CITY—On Wednesday, 100 inmates from the Rikers Island jail complex in New York moved into a new residential ward at Bellevue public hospital that opened the day prior to provide specialized medical care.

“Rather than wait critical hours and travel offsite to get the care they need, specialty services will be just an elevator ride away,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said from Bellevue Hospital on Tuesday, announcing the opening of the facility. Designed to provide inmates with better access to medical care, the new ward is taking on patients from the island jail’s infirmary, which will allow the mayor to close that facility, a first step in his effort to close Rikers Island.