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After months of community uproar over the state’s proposal to close SUNY Downstate’s University Hospital, policymakers have paused plans to shutter the medical center.
Lawmakers have reached an agreement with Gov. Kathy Hochul to halt the closure of the East Flatbush teaching hospital while officials appoint an advisory commission to examine the hospital’s services and financial status. The commission will have approximately a year to devise recommendations for state officials to help them determine Downstate’s future.
Under the agreement, SUNY Downstate will be prohibited from cutting any of its inpatient services or submitting service reduction plans to state health officials until the commission releases recommendations. The commission’s work will also happen in the public eye – the deal includes a requirement for the commission to hold a minimum of three public hearings.
The panel will be made up of nine members: three appointed by the governor, one appointed by the Senate, Assembly and local community boards, as well as representatives for the state Health Department, the Chancellor’s Office and labor unions.
In the meantime, SUNY Downstate will still receive operating funding to help it keep the lights on while the commission decides what comes next. The hospital runs a deficit of roughly $100 million a year.
The deal comes after lawmakers maneuvered to stall a closure during final budget negotiations. Hochul and SUNY leaders announced a transformation plan that would effectively close the hospital in January, pledging to hash out the details in the state budget. But the plan has been met with resistance from community members, elected officials, faith leaders, hospital workers and medical students who feared that it would erode access to care and medical training opportunities in Central Brooklyn.
SUNY Chancellor John King said that preliminary plans involved moving all inpatient services to surrounding hospitals, including New York City Health + Hospitals/Kings, and deploying $300 million in state capital funds to build a new ambulatory care facility and health equity center on Downstate’s campus. The state will still allocate the capital funds into a fund for the hospital; but the commission will make recommendations on how those funds are spent.
Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who represents the district where SUNY Downstate is located, said that the agreement to appoint an advisory panel will allow community members to take part in a robust conversation about how to sustain Downstate – not one that’s impacted by a looming budget deadline.
Myrie said that this deal marks the next phase of the conversation about Downstate – one that was made possible by the support of the community.
“The community showed up for Downstate,” Myrie said. “The community was the difference maker.”
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Amanda D'Ambrosio , 2024-04-19 15:39:25
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