Gov. Kathy Hochul is extending the deadline for an advisory panel to release a plan to renovate SUNY Downstate’s University Hospital, offering a concession to community members who say the administration rushed the process to revitalize the cash-strapped Brooklyn medical center.
The governor’s office told advisory board members on Thursday that they will have two extra months to come up with recommendations for the East Flatbush hospital’s physical infrastructure and long-term financial sustainability, board member Dr. Frederick Kowal told Crain’s. The panel was supposed to submit its plan to Hochul by April 1, a deadline written into state law. Now, the recommendations will be due in June, the governor’s office confirmed.
The governor’s office said it does not have a plan to change the statute, despite the changing deadline.
Kara Fesolovich, a spokeswoman for Hochul, said that after discussions with board members and local officials, the governor expects recommendations by June 1 “to ensure that the board has enough time to fully develop a plan that reflects the voices and needs of the community.”
“The extension enables us to do careful deliberation and weigh all factors,” said Kowal, president of the union United University Professionals, which represents roughly 2,000 workers at Downstate. “Most importantly, it allows us to incorporate community concerns and desires.”
SUNY Downstate staved off a potential closure last year after local lawmakers and community advocates criticized the state for trying to shutter the hospital, which they said would erode health services in central Brooklyn. State lawmakers included language in the previous budget to appoint a nine-member advisory panel to submit recommendations no later than April 1 and create a transparent process to allow community members to weigh in.
Hochul has changed her tune on closing inpatient services at SUNY Downstate. The governor allocated up to $750 million in her January executive budget to cover construction costs for the hospital, plus $200 million over two years to plug financial deficits. SUNY Chancellor John King said that the additional funding – up from $300 million in last year’s budget – would make it possible to preserve a mix of inpatient and outpatient services.
Still, the board faces a lofty goal to help the hospital stay afloat in the years to come, especially as it braces for looming federal funding cuts. Downstate serves a high proportion of patients on public health insurance plans including Medicaid, which could be slashed under a budget plan being pushed by House Republicans.
The union is backing a plan released by the community group Brooklyn for Downstate that would reduce the hospital’s bed count from 342 to 250, as well as modernize the emergency room, maternal health, cancer and transplant services. The plan also includes an urgent care and ambulatory surgery center, which the group said would reduce emergency room utilization and health care costs.
The Downstate Community Advisory Board will host the last of its three required public hearings on March 13.
