Please send this e-letter to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie urging him to stop SUNY's ill-conceived plan to shut down the public teaching hospital at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn.

This letter also asks the speaker to push to keep $100 million in operating aid to Downstate hospital in the 2024-2025 state budget and include Sen. Zellnor Myrie's bill (S.8732-Myrie) that reimagines our hospital as a viable, vital health care center that serves the unique needs of Brooklyn and New York City.

SUNY's plan would essentially relegate the safety net hospital to a wing in Kings County Hospital Center; other health care services would be farmed out to neighboring hospitals.

This will absolutely result in the closure of SUNY Downstate.

As a public teaching hospital, SUNY Downstate treats all patients who walk through its doors, including patients without insurance or are unable to pay for care. It also provides state-of-the-art procedures that other hospitals can’t or don’t offer. The vast majority of Downstate’s patients — nearly 90 percent — are on Medicaid, are underinsured or have no health insurance.

Also, many Downstate workers could lose their jobs if the hospital is shut down. These same workers were hailed as heroes during the early days of the pandemic, when New York City was the epicenter of the outbreak. SUNY Downstate was designated as a COVID-only hospital in Spring 2020 by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo; the designation lasted nine months.

By sending this e-letter, you are asking Speaker Heastie to work with the governor, the speaker's legislative colleagues and other stakeholders to come up with a sustainability plan for SUNY Downstate.

Thank you!