Governor Pataki and the NY State Legislature established the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century in April, 2005 to rein in health care spending throughout the state. The commission's mandate is to reduce spending and hospital capacity by up to one-third.
The Save Our Safety Net Campaign (SOS-C) is a fast-growing coalition of community organizations and labor unions who are deeply concerned about the potential disaster that could result from the recommendations of Governor Pataki's Hospital Closing Commission. We have come together around our statement of principles and have committed to working together to ensure transparency, accountability, and justice in the process of designing a health care system for the 21st century that provides access to affordable, quality healthcare for all New Yorkers.
Our SOS coalition proposes the following Criteria for Closing or Conversions:
Judgments about the need for a hospital should not be made solely on the basis of the financial status of that hospital, or the condition of its' physical plant. It must be made on the basis of need for the services provided by that facility.
- Quality of care provided should be a factor, but it is unclear how that quality would be determined.
- The fact that other hospitals exist in a region does not mean that those hospitals will serve the population in need of care. Determinations must be made not only about the capacity of alternative facilities, but their willingness and ability to provide services.
- For the under- and uninsured, it is particularly important that alternative facilities have Charity Care policies that translate into equal access to care. But having a policy on charity care that is not within reach for low and moderate income people and families, should not be acceptable. For example, some hospitals provide emergency care as required by law, but then do not provide necessary follow-up care. These institutions are not a substitute for hospitals that are available and accessible.
- Consideration should be given to the displacement of workers and the loss of jobs, particularly in communities with high unemployment.
- Consideration should be given to not leaving only the highest cost tertiary care facilities open.
Partial List of Organizational and Individual Signers:
116th Street Block Association, Inc.
Catherine Abate, Community Health Care Network*
Anne Bove, RN, President, Delegate Assembly, NYSNA
Brooklyn Perinatal Network, Ngozi Moses, Executive Director
Brooklynwide Interagency Council on the Aging
Robb Burlage, PhD
Care for the Homeless
Caribbean Women's Health Association, Dr. Marco Mason, Executive Director
Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York
Central Brooklyn Committee to Save Our Hospitals - CARES
Children's Defense Fund - New York
Chinese Staff & Workers Association
Commission on the Public's Health System
Committee of Interns & Residents - SEIU
Committee to Save Our Hospitals - CARES
Communications Workers of America, Local 1180
Community Board #9, Manhattan
Community Service Society
Council of Municipal Hospitals Community Boards
District Council 37, AFSCME
Doctors Council
For A Better Bronx
Freedom Community Center
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Health & Welfare Council of Long Island
Paloma Hernandez, Urban Health Plan, Inc.
Hunger Action Network of NYS
Institute for Puerto Rican Policy
Latin American Integration Center
Sister Barbara Lenninger - Thorpe Family Residence
Sondra Lieberman, Planned Parenthood of Nassau County*
Local 1549, District Council 37, AFSCME
Long Island Health Access Monitoring Project
Make the Road by Walking
Manhattan-Staten Island Island AHEC - Mary J. Mitchell
Medicaid Matters
NARAL Pro-Choice New York, Low-Income Access Project
National Mobilization Against Sweatshops
New York AIDS Coalition
New York Counties Registered Nurses Association
New York Immigration Coalition
New York Jobs With Justice
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign
New York State Nurses Association
New York StateWide Senior Action Council
New Yorkers for Accessible Health Coverage Deborah Ottenheimer, M.D.
Physicians for a National Health Program - New York Metro Chapter
Public Health Association of New York City
Joan M. Seergy, LCSW, Obstetrics Ambulatory Care/Long Island College Hospital*
Greta M. Trotman, R.N.
Sandy Turner, M.D.
United Healthcare Workers East, 1199 SEIU
Welfare Rights Initiative, Hunter College
Will Weder
Working Families Party
*Organization for Identification Purposes Only
JOIN THE SAVE OUR SAFETY NET CAMPAIGN
To sign on to the Save Our Safety Net Campaign's Statement of Principles, please CLICK HERE and e-mail us the name of your organization, the name of your contact person, and the address, telephone, fax and e-mail you would like us to use to keep you informed of the latest developments with the Hospital Closing Commission.