Albany’s Unprecedented Power Grab Will Create A Healthcare Crisis in Nassau County
Albany Politicians Put Politics Over Patients
(EAST MEADOW, NY) – Nassau Health Care Corporation (NHCC) Board Chair Dr. Irina Gelman, DPM, MPH, PhD, released the following statements today in response to language in budget bill S.3007-C, released overnight, that attempts to illegally assert state control over Nassau County’s only public safety-net hospital:
“The state’s hostile takeover of Nassau County’s only public safety-net hospital is unprecedented, immoral and dangerous. This disparate targeting of only NHCC and none of the other public benefit corporations in New York State, is indicative of the moral turpitude of Albany using the employees, patients and most vulnerable of Nassau County’s residents as political cannon fodder. By continuing to put politics, any politics left, right or center, before the needs of the people that work and seek care at Nassau Health Care Corporation is deplorable. I urge every Nassau County resident along with each and every elected public servant to read the Alvarez & Marsal Assessment of Strategic Options for Nassau Health Care Corporation / NuHealth, submitted to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority on December 11, 2020, which says, in part, ‘for any of the options considered but we identified only two that approach a sustainable operating model by transferring a significant portion of outpatient care to the FQHC while addressing inpatient care demand by focusing on behavioral health. None of the options presented include the continued operation of a skilled nursing / long-term care facility.’ (Alvarez, p3, 2020). The graphic on page nine of the same assessment clearly indicates that of the estimated 3,400 current full time employees, only 290-310 will remain after the proposed conversion of NUMC into a behavioral/ mental health only facility model. This information in conjunction with the March 1, 2024 letter from the New York State Department of Health addressed to the Chairman of Nassau Health Care Corporation, elucidates the fact that ‘the A&M strategic assessment provided 5 options for transformation but concluded that only one would lead to financial sustainability: Conversion to an Article 31 [NYS Mental Hygiene Law entitled Regulation and Quality control of services for the Mentally Disabled] facility with approximately 120 beds providing only behavioral health services.’
“Both the state’s overreach of power, as well as the proposed 19 story behavioral/ health facility in the middle of Nassau County must be of critical concern to all Nassau County residents. The notion that a state appointed board would have a higher rate of success in managing this critical care facility from Albany is a logical fallacy, given the abysmal record New York State has with their own SUNY hospital facilities.”
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