Local Communities Across New York "Deserve a Say" When Our Hospitals Seek to Close

New York Governor Kathy Hochul

Hospital closures harm our local communities and reduce our access to health care. They put our own individual health and well-being at risk, particularly those of us living with serious and complex health needs and disabilities. They also threaten our ability to cope with emergencies such as pandemics and natural disasters.

Everyday people in an affected community deserve to be involved in evaluating the need for and limiting the harmful impacts of proposed hospital closures. Right now under New York State law and regulation, we don’t. Local communities should play a role in developing ways to ensure that people will still receive the hospital-based care we need, particularly in a sudden emergency like a heart attack, stroke, mental health crisis, childbirth, or life-threatening injury.

To give local communities a say, the New York State Legislature passed the "Local Input in Community Healthcare Act" (S.8843A/A.1633B) last spring by strong bipartisan margins. This bill will:

  • improve public notice and community involvement when hospitals propose to close entirely or shut down units like maternity, emergency rooms, or mental health services.
  • strengthen government oversight of proposed closures.
  • ensure that a Health Equity Impact Assessment is done, to inform the community and state regulators.

Here is a one-page fact sheet about this bill.

This bill now awaits Governor Hochul’s signature before the end of next week (Fri. Dec. 13th.) Over the next ten days, it is very important for everyday New Yorkers to contact Gov. Hochul and urge her to sign this important bill into law.

What YOU can do:

  • Sign this petition to urge Gov. Hochul to sign this bill into law.
  • Send Gov. Hochul your own personal email here.
  • Call Gov. Hochul's office to leave a message about this bill: 518-474-8390.
  • Use this social media toolkit to help spread the word.

Join in a special “social media storm” on this Wed. Dec. 4th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Please post then to whatever social media platforms you use, and be sure to tag Gov. Hochul in it. The social media toolkit has all the various information and resources to use.

Petition sponsors [list in formation]:

  • Community Voices for Health System Accountability
  • Metro New York Health Care for All
  • Save Beth Israel and New York Eye & Ear Campaign

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Some background:

For the past two decades, New York City communities have grappled with the loss of Cabrini Medical Center in Gramercy Park, St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in East Flatbush, and several safety-net hospitals in Queens. These closures have severely curtailed access to essential hospital services, and have left residents in these neighborhoods with fewer options, particularly those living in NYCHA public housing developments and other low-income areas.

Additionally, there is ongoing upset about the potential closures of Beth Israel Hospital in Lower Manhattan and SUNY Downstate’s University Hospital in Central Brooklyn, as well as attempts to close services in the Capital District (childbirth in Troy, and general medical in Schenectady) and in Sullivan County (transfer of services over to Orange County.)

This new bill will help to preserve access to hospital care in our local communities by improving public notice and community engagement, and strengthening state oversight when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or close a unit that provides key services like childbirth, emergency care, or psychiatric treatment. It will also close a loophole in New York's new Health Equity Impact Assessment process by requiring that such a study be conducted when a hospital seeks to close entirely.

While this bill won’t stop hospital closures outright, it will create community engagement requirements to ensure that everyday New Yorkers have a role in discussions about and plans for hospital closures in our communities. The bill also improves transparency of a process that currently leaves the Department of Health making the decisions in private without any public discussion or even a recommendation from the State’s Public Health and Health Planning Council.


To: New York Governor Kathy Hochul
From: [Your Name]

We write to urge you to sign the Local Input in Community Healthcare Act (S.8843A/A.1633B) into law.

We everyday New Yorkers deserve a say when a hospital in our local community plans to close entirely or shut key units we need, such as maternity, emergency or mental health care. Right now, community engagement is very limited and comes far too late, and state health officials make decisions about proposed closures behind closed doors with no transparency or public discussion.

We everyday New Yorkers need your leadership on this issue. Please sign this bill into law before the end of this year.