Visit Politico to read the full story.
By Maya Kaufman | 12/03/2024 02:56 PM EST
NEW YORK — SUNY Downstate Medical Center should slash its capacity by about 27 percent but maintain “essential” services like ER care and kidney transplantation to adequately serve patients in central Brooklyn, according to an analysis released Tuesday.
The report was commissioned by Brooklyn for Downstate, a coalition of faith leaders, residents, health care workers and union members that formed in response to the Hochul administration’s original closure proposal. Hinman Straub, an Albany-based law firm and lobbyist, authored it — and it was paid for as part of retainer agreement between that firm and the United University Professions union, which represents workers at Downstate.
The report recommends that SUNY Downstate reduce its inpatient bed capacity from 342 to 250 beds and renovate its emergency department to add an observation unit and Level 1 or 2 trauma services — measures that would presumably enable the hospital to strengthen its fiscal position while meeting a very high need for emergency services in Brooklyn.
The analysis also calls for the hospital to strengthen services that address the community’s most pressing health care needs by expanding its celebrated kidney transplant program, reestablishing a cardiothoracic surgery program that was suspended in 2019, renovating its maternity ward and establishing outpatient centers for preventative services in areas such as diabetes and stroke.
“The data clearly demonstrates that the closure of Downstate would negatively impact community health and increase disparities in health outcomes for minority populations,” the report states. “Reduction of capacity at Downstate, while retaining core services, is the most rational pathway to ensuring continued access to healthcare needs.”
More context: Gov. Kathy Hochul and SUNY announced a plan in January to “transform” the public university system’s Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, citing financial woes and crumbling infrastructure.
Under the plan, SUNY Downstate would close its main building and shift some inpatient services to NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, a city-run public hospital, across the street. A state “transformation” fund would support construction of a new building for outpatient services.
A budget deal negotiated by Hochul and state lawmakers put that plan on pause, instead calling for a nine-member advisory board to issue recommendations for transforming the safety-net hospital.
Why it matters: The timing of Brooklyn for Downstate’s report means the official advisory board, which was only unveiled last week, will face pressure to reckon with the conclusions as it prepares its own recommendations to Hochul and the Legislature.
The report finds that closure of Downstate’s ER, as contemplated in the Hochul administration and SUNY’s original proposal, would “have a county wide impact, driving significant wait times higher and compromising care.”
What’s next: The official nine-member advisory board has until April 1 to conduct three public hearings and deliver recommendations on how the state should spend up to $750 million in capital funding allotted to revamp Downstate.