Hospitals in New York would have to provide more public notice and opportunities for community engagement when they’re looking to close, under a bill state lawmakers passed on Thursday.
The bill gained momentum this legislative session as lawmakers grappled with the potential closures of Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan and SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, both of which generated significant community pushback. But the legislation's text says it would not apply to closures that have already been proposed to the state health department.
Mount Sinai is still trying to get a proposed July 12 closure date for Beth Israel approved by the department, while community groups continue to try to block the closure in court. Meanwhile, SUNY Downstate’s closure has been delayed indefinitely as the state convenes a task force to consider the hospital’s future.
The legislation would require the state health commissioner to hold a public community forum on a planned closure 150 days before it was set to take place, rather than within 30 days after a hospital closure, as under current law.
The bill would also require hospitals to submit assessments of how their proposed closures would affect health equity in their area. The state began requiring hospitals to submit those types of assessments for proposed service cuts last year but the rule didn’t apply to full hospital closures.
“We are excited that the state Legislature has reaffirmed its commitment to improving New York’s oversight of hospital closure proposals and putting the community’s concerns at the center of the discussion from the beginning of the process, something that’s been long overdue,” said Mark Hannay, coordinator of the “Save Beth Israel and New York Eye and Ear Campaign,” in a statement. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary is a specialty center affiliated with Beth Israel.
An array of public health advocacy groups issued statements celebrating the bill’s passage on Thursday. But the Greater New York Hospital Association has lobbied against the bill, saying it would make change too difficult.
“While [the Greater New York Hospital Association] fully supports the development of an orderly procedure for hospital closures, including community engagement, this bill would not achieve that goal,” the group wrote in a memo to members this month. “As currently drafted, it would instead paralyze health care transformation to the detriment of the communities our hospitals serve.”
Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon first introduced a version of the bill, known as the Local Input for Community Hospitals, in 2015, following the closure of Brooklyn’s Long Island College Hospital the year before. The bill is also known as the LICH Act, sharing its initials with those of the hospital.
It now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk. Sam Spokony, a spokesperson for the governor, said she is reviewing the legislation.
