Nurses Push Back on AI Adoption at New York Hospitals

As health systems across New York deploy the latest in artificial intelligence to innovate and advance operations, hospital staff are voicing their concerns over the impacts the technology is having on their day-to-day work.

In November, nurses with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) held a rally on the steps of City Hall before testifying before the city council about hospital safety and the state of nursing on November 18, 2025.

Among their calls for improved safety measures and fair wages for staff, nurses spoke about the impacts of AI use in their hospitals.

“The time is now for hospitals to step up and take safe patient care seriously," NYSNA president and Maimonides Medical Center nurse Nancy Hagans said in a statement. "We’ve watched hospitals like Mount Sinai attempt to veil the extent to which they’ve prioritized their money-making ventures over the patients of this city. We’re here to say enough is enough. The wealthiest hospitals need to stop playing games with artificial intelligence and invest in care for those who need it most. Nurses, who have been on the frontlines of caring for patients and have been ruthless in their fight to protect federal health care funding, are demanding hospitals do their part.”

In a statement to Newsweek, Maimonides said it uses a "rigorous review process with direct input from clinicians before implementing any new technology to improve patient care, including AI."

"AI offers powerful tools to improve clinical outcomes and patient experience, always under the guidance of doctors and nurses responsible for taking care of our patients," the hospital said.

Why It Matters

NYSNA nurses held a series of demonstrations last month to highlight to poor working conditions and safety concerns at NYC hospitals. The union also set up a website, called NYC Hospital Greed, to call out the ways nurses believe hospitals are putting profits over patients.

One of their main demands was for private hospitals, including Mount Sinai, Montefiore and New York-Presbyterian, to invest in safe patient care “rather than executive pay and risky speculations on artificial intelligence.”

This comes amid impending federal health care cuts that threaten the quality of patient care and job security for nurses and other hospital technicians in New York City by kicking millions off their health insurance and increasing health care premiums.

In her testimony before the city council’s Committee on Hospitals on November 18, which was shared with Newsweek, Hagans said nurses are currently waging a battle to defend quality patient care on two fronts.

“The first front is against the federal Trump administration and its attacks on our most vulnerable patients and on health care funding,” she said. “The second front is against our city’s own private hospitals, which are fighting against all the gains that nurses have made to stabilize the workforce and improve and protect patient care."

Nurses around the country are launching demonstrations and strikes as they negotiate new contracts with their employers to ensure better wages, safety and retention. Short staffing, inflation, unsafe working conditions and lack of resources are common issues among nurses and their unions, according to Newsweek's reporting.

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What To Know

Hagans spoke about the federal pressures on New York City’s health system, including ICE raids and funding cuts, as well as the cuts to staffing, wages and benefits for nurses at their own places of work.

She said hospitals want to erase the gains nurses made to increase recruitment and retention after the COVID-19 pandemic and is calling on administrators to be held accountable for delivering safe staffing and patient care in return for state financial support. These demonstrations and testimonies also come as the contracts of approximately 20,000 NYSNA nurses at 12 private sector hospitals are set to expire at the end of the year.

One of her main concerns was over the quick deployment of AI tools, like virtual nurses and ambient listening, by hospitals as a way of “investing untold millions of dollars to replace real nurses with artificial care.”

“One of the main advantages [hospital administrators] cite is being able to bill patients more,” Hagans said. “They refuse to negotiate any guardrails or limits on the introduction of new technologies, and they refuse to disclose just how much they are spending on these risky and unproven initiatives. “

She added during the hearing that she wants nurses to be included in the decision-making process to ensure there is adequate training and implementation for patient safety and job security.

In a statement to Newsweek, New York-Presbyterian said it uses AI and other technologies to support its care team, not replace them.

"We are always interested in innovations that can improve the speed and accuracy of screening, diagnosis and treatment, helping our teams deliver the best patient outcomes and the most compassionate care," the hospital said.

Denash Forbes, a nurse at Mount Sinai West, also testified before the committee. She described the short staffing in the intensive care unit where she works, accusing the hospital of investing in AI technologies and software products instead of nurses. This includes a $100 million investment in an AI facility and Sofiya, an AI assistant in Mount Sinai’s cardiac catheterization lab.

“Nurses were not a part of this discussion and had no input in the creation of the facility,” she said. “Meanwhile, they’ve implemented new technologies which directly affect patient care, again without the input of nurses.”

She added that nurses have to check Sofiya’s work for mistakes, noting that “when hospitals try to cut corners like this on safe patient care, mistakes are made, biases are magnified and more work is often created down the line.”

In her testimony, Forbes asked for Mount Sinai to prioritize patients and safety over the creation of machines and technologies “that have little research to back them up.”

What People Are Saying

City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse said in a statement: "As a proud nurse and as Chair of the Hospitals Committee of the New York City Council, I know the difference that safe staffing and real investment in patient care make. New York’s nurses have been on the frontlines pushing back against cuts, staffing shortages and decisions that prioritize technology and executive pay over people. They are right to demand better. They deserve and have earned better. Hospitals must do their part, invest in their workforce, protect services, and ensure that every patient receives the care they deserve. I will always stand with our nurses in that fight."

City Council Member Jennifer Gutierrez said in a statement: “New York City’s nurses have been clear that patients deserve safe, dignified care, and that starts with fully staffed hospitals that invest in people—not executives and not unproven tech. As federal health care cuts loom, hospitals that have the means must step up, protect services, and keep real nurses at the bedside. I stand firmly with the 20,000 nurses heading into contract negotiations who are fighting for safe staffing, fair wages, and the health and well-being of every New Yorker.”

New York State Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest said in a statement: “I join my NYSNA siblings to defend health care in Brooklyn and demand that our city’s hospitals protect health care and invest in patients, rather than executive pay and risky artificial intelligence. Over the last few months, I’ve fought alongside my fellow nurses to fight back against some of the wealthiest hospitals in New York as they cut frontline staff and essential services. We need our safety-net hospitals to prioritize safe staffing and health equity so that all patients receive the quality care they deserve, regardless of their ability to pay. Nurses care for New York, and right now we are fighting for the health and well-being of our communities. I remain committed to fighting for quality care for all New Yorkers with my NYSNA siblings.”

Assembly Member Emily Gallagher said in a statement: "Nurses show up to the front lines every day to ensure New Yorkers are cared for, and they deserve that same care and respect in return. As a state and a country, our health care system is under siege from federal cuts and already pervasive staffing shortages. Our communities deserve excellent care when they are sick, regardless of the hospital they visit, the insurance they hold, or their income level. To deliver that, we must invest in our health care system, staff our hospitals appropriately, and ensure care comes from humans, not artificial intelligence."

Newsweek reached out to Mount Sinai and Monefiore for comment.

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