Ongoing financial problems at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Hospital are leading to what could be a transformation or the probable closing of the East Flatbush-based medical school.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is reportedly working with Downstate Health Sciences University administrators to look for ways to convert the century-old institution into a viable modern facility. The hospital is said to be annually over $100 million in arrears and its buildings will require even more funding for renovations.
One plan that’s being floated to deal with these issues would see Downstate move some of its inpatient services to nearby places like Kings County Hospital. Locations like Kings County could then establish a “Downstate wing” within their buildings.
Union reps are suggesting the changes at Downstate would not only drastically affect neighborhood residents who use the facilities’ healthcare services, but would also lead to job losses for hospital workers.
Public Employees Federation (PEF) President Wayne Spence says the jobs of 400+ nurses and other healthcare professionals at Downstate will be jeopardized by the proposed changes.
“Downstate has been underfunded for years,” Spence said in a statement, “even though it serves a vulnerable community in Brooklyn. Despite ongoing advocacy for more funding, the hospital was never prioritized in past budgets even as private hospitals secured billions in tax dollars to meet their shortfalls. The hospital is connected to the only state medical school educating doctors and nurses of color, yet it was starved of resources.
“The institution’s current financial woes and infrastructure problems are a direct result of more than a decade of neglect by the previous governor,” he said.
Fred Kowal, president of the United University Professions (UUP), which represents over 2,300 SUNY Downstate workers, called the proposed Downstate transformation essentially a closing. “If you moved the programs offered at my home campus, SUNY Cobleskill, to nearby colleges and turned the campus into a shopping center, do you still have a SUNY Cobleskill? Of course not,” Kowal concluded in a statement. “And that’s what’s happening at Downstate. If there is no building, there is no hospital.
“How can you pull from this community a hospital [that] is so needed and so necessary?” Kowal asked. “Central Brooklyn is a diverse, underserved community that relies on the health care SUNY Downstate provides.
“We remain hopeful that Gov. Hochul will not let this happen. This is the state’s hospital. Our patients, the Central Brooklyn community and our members are counting on the state to do the right thing and save SUNY Downstate.”
PEF President Spence also weighed in. “This so-called ‘transformation’ proposal is not currently in writing for review by stakeholders,” he said. “Unions like PEF, the staff who work at Downstate, or the community the hospital serves were not asked for their input. But PEF will not stand by and allow this important public decision to be made without PEF weighing in. Our members are public servants dedicated to delivering services to their communities, and they deserve better.
“If the state is serious about ‘transforming’ Downstate and creating a plan with long-term viability, it should start by engaging all stakeholders and asking the Department of Health to release its feasibility study on healthcare disparities and access in Brooklyn. A real dialogue about the future of Downstate should start now!”