Save Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center

Governor Cuomo

Save kingsbrook

During the first wave of COVID-19, Kingsbrook valiantly served central Brooklyn and beyond, which like many communities of color, was particularly hard-hit. Over 200 beds were constantly full to capacity with COVID patients. Multiple Kingsbrook staff members died alongside the community members who were cruelly taken by this plague.

Kingsbrook was stretched to the max and overwhelmed with need during the height of this pandemic, like other nearby hospitals. It is still one of the busiest community hospitals in Brooklyn, serving many COVID and non-COVID patient

COVID-19 has shown how unequal our healthcare system is – and how critical hospitals are to our healthcare safety net. New York State has lost approximately 20,000 hospital beds since 2000, half of those since Cuomo became Governor in 2011. This is a reason why thousands of Brooklyn residents died unnecessarily. Manhattan has 6 hospital beds per 1,000 residents. Brooklyn has 2 hospital beds per 1,000 residents.  

It is beyond cruel to close a hospital in a high-need area during a pandemic – but this hospital shouldn’t be closed anyway. Due to pressure from concerned staff and community members, the Governor’s plan to fully close Kingsbrook’s inpatient beds by December 31, 2020 was temporarily halted. To save lives Kingsbrook must stay open – today and in the future.

Petition by
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Brooklyn, New York

To: Governor Cuomo
From: [Your Name]

Kingsbrook’s community was in a healthcare crisis before the pandemic. Not only were Black neighborhoods hit harder by COVID-19, but they were already struggling with a higher burden of disease and premature death due to the effects of systemic racism.

Closing this hospital will increase already long wait times at surrounding hospitals. It will worsen the suffering in Black and immigrant working-class neighborhoods.

This hospital is needed – during the pandemic and beyond. Stop the process of preparing to close the hospital. Stop draining the community’s needed resources and funds.

• All Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center services and beds must remain functioning with full staff for all beds indefinitely.
• Stop draining Kingsbrook of resources. Safety net hospitals should be fully funded.
• The undemocratic and outdated 2016 restructuring plan to close Kingsbrook as a hospital must be scrapped completely.
• Any organizations or individuals with financial conflicts of interest should be excluded from planning and decision-making about hospital closures and service cuts.
• The pandemic has shown the need to maintain and expand hospital capacity. We additionally support a moratorium on all hospital closures and no cuts to safety net hospital funding.