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PEF asks governor, court to protect SUNY hospitals
By SHERRY HALBROOK
In late March, PEF filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court challenging the
recommendations of the New York State Commission on Health Care Facilities in
the 21st Century, commonly referred to as the Berger Commission.
Because the Legislature and then governor, George Pataki, did not reject the
commission’s entire report before the end of 2006, its recommendations
automatically became law.
“If there was ever a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water, the
threat of privatizing the three state University of New York teaching hospitals
is it,” said PEF President Ken Brynien.
The commission’s report recommended the state study privatizing all three SUNY
hospitals and merge one of them, SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, with
nearby Crouse Hospital.
“Where’s the advantage in binding SUNY Upstate, which is financially sound and
has an 80 percent occupancy rate, to Crouse Hospital which recently emerged from
bankruptcy after falling $91 million into debt, and which has an average
occupancy rate of less than 50 percent?” Brynien asked.
“We are pursuing every opportunity to inject some clear-headed reason into the
issue of these teaching hospitals that provide the very best care for the most
acutely ill patients in their regions and train the new health care
professionals we will need and depend on for generations to come,” Brynien said.
PEF began discussions about this and other important issues with representatives
of Gov. Eliot Spitzer in April.
“We are very hopeful that when the new administration has time to focus on this
issue, it will recognize the importance of preserving and protecting this vital
health care resource for all New Yorkers,” Brynien said.
“Meanwhile, we needed to file our legal challenge before that opportunity
expired. We are challenging the legal basis of giving the commission’s
recommendations the force of law,” Brynien said. “That’s a violation of the New
York State Constitution. Decisions to close or merge hospitals should not be
made by a commission that is unaccountable to the public and appointed by an
outgoing governor. The commission’s recommendation also violated the state
Education Law which gives the SUNY trustees the sole authority to operate these
hospitals. That authority cannot be transferred to any other entity.
“In fact, the chancellor of SUNY has estimated the merger proposed by the Berger
Commission would cost the taxpayers more than $700 million. The merger just
doesn’t make sense,” Brynien said.
PEF is asking the court for two things: to enjoin SUNY and the state Department
of Health from implementing the commission’s recommendations; and, ultimately,
to rule the recommendations are null and void.
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