A growing movement against hospital closures in vulnerable communities has prompted New York State electeds to rally behind a newly introduced bill called the Hospital Closures Moratorium Act (S08907/A9819).
If passed, the bill, sponsored by Senator Kristen Gonzalez, would declare hospital closures a healthcare emergency, and all hospital closures or downsizing of healthcare facilities, emergency services, intensive care services, urgent care services and pediatric services would be suspended until the state Department of Health (DOH) can complete its study on how that decision impacts the community.
According to lawmakers, there are at least 12 hospitals that have filed applications for closure, while 21 rural hospitals throughout the state are at risk of immediate closure. The rash of potential closures is concerning in communities where race-related health disparities are high. “As a lot of folks have seen, we’ve seen a trend in hospital closures, whether it’s the shutting down of services or the proposed closures of entire hospitals,” Gonzalez said about the bill.
Grassroots efforts to save hospitals, like State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Science Center in Brooklyn and Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan, have sprung up widely and received more attention in the years since the pandemic.
“That starts with SUNY Downstate and the incredible organizing that the Brooklyn electeds, like Senator Myrie, have been leading for some time now. And in my own district, it relates to Mount Sinai Beth Israel. They’ve moved to close Beth Israel which would potentially leave 400,000 lower Manhattanites affected by this because they wouldn’t have a nearby emergency room,” continued Gonzalez.
The effort to save hospitals also includes the updated Local Input for Community Hospitals (LICH) Act (S3131/A02251), sponsored by Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon. This bill would ensure communities receive notice of a hospital’s pending closure and can provide input during the process. The LICH Act passed in the state assembly this April.
LICH and the moratorium were intended to work in conjunction with one another, said Gonzalez.
“Your ZIP code should not dictate the quality of healthcare you receive,” Assemblymember Latrice Walker said about the closures of safety net hospitals. “Many times we find that the reason for suggesting that a hospital close is because the hospital is not receiving the sort of resources it needs in order to stay open.”
The bill’s data is mandated to also study hospitals that receive disproportionately large shares of Medicare and Medicaid recipients—usually in communities of color—as well as examine patient demographics, geographic distribution, financial viability, quality of care, the number of medical staff employed, and transportation options for users of the facility.
State lawmakers maintain that “playing with people’s lives” can no longer be accepted and that in the long term, serious structural change is needed.
“We know what it is we have to do,” said Walker. “We have to put our money where our mouth is and not just go towards a closure of a hospital but instead provide a right-sized healthcare delivery system that serves communities of color [and] also provide top-notch, quality healthcare that our communities deserve.”
In the meantime, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on April 15 that state funds will be committed to hospitals and Medicaid in the state’s $237 billion Fiscal Year 2025 State Budget agreement.
For “distressed hospitals,” there is $3.9 billion allocated in the budget, while a $20 billion multi-year payout to “build new healthcare infrastructure, expand Medicare coverage for seniors and pregnant New Yorkers and increase the home care worker minimum wage.”
Hochul had previously pledged $300 million to help buttress SUNY Downstate with its financial deficits and during its “transformation” process, where it was controversially proposed that inpatient services be downsized and moved across the street to a neighboring hospital.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.