Save Suny Downstate Hospital

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate has been a publicly owned, taxpayer-funded medical college and hospital since 1860 and is the birthplace of world-renowned magnetic resonance imaging technology (MRI); and

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate is 1 of 3 remaining SUNY hospitals in the entire state of New York; and

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate is dedicated to delivering core services to the residents of Central Brooklyn, including: Level II trauma care and related services; cardiac care; maternity and pediatric care; emergency services; and it operates the only kidney transplant center in Brooklyn; and

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate was the state’s only designated COVID-19 hospital in New York state, and literally saved thousands of lives from the scourge of this deadly virus; and

WHEREAS, if Brooklyn was a city, it would be the fourth-largest city in the United States, and SUNY Downstate is the fourth-largest employer in Brooklyn; and

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate serves more than 12,000 inpatient and 300,000 outpatient clients each year; and more than 62,000 Brooklynites visit its emergency room each year; and

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate has faced financial hardship due to the nature of the population it serves—including uninsured, underinsured, indigent and undocumented individuals—with 20 percent of the population in Brooklyn living in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau; and

WHEREAS, according to a recent report by the NYS Department of Health, the numbers of providers and staffed hospital beds are lowest in communities of color and high-poverty communities; and the absolute number of healthcare providers who accept Medicaid is lowest in high-poverty communities and communities with high Hispanic populations; and

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine has more than 800 faculty members and more than 2,000 students studying to be doctors and nurses and other healthcare professionals—almost 60 percent of them are students of color; and

WHEREAS, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine is dedicated to training a diversified healthcare workforce and is in the top 4 percent of schools graduating African American doctors and nurses in the nation; and 70 percent of the students in the SUNY Downstate College of Nursing are people of color; and

WHEREAS, understanding that SUNY Downstate faced financial hardship and in order to develop approaches to address those financial challenges, United University Professions and the New York State Public Employees Federation sought legislation in 2023 to mandate that the Commissioner of Health develop a sustainability plan for the hospital in consultation with stakeholders, which maintained Downstate as a public state-operated facility staffed with public employees and to study the hospitals finances, services and service population; and

WHEREAS, this legislation was opposed by the administration of the State University of New York; and

WHEREAS, in January 2024, SUNY Chancellor John King announced that he planned to close the hospital at SUNY Downstate and transfer the more than 300 state-operated inpatient beds and the majority of the hospital services to Kings County Medical Center and other regional healthcare facilities; and

WHEREAS, despite repeated attempts to review the written plan for this closure, as well as the financial data of the hospital, no written plan or financial data has ever been provided; and

WHEREAS, in an effort to educate policymakers and the community about the significant shortcomings of this closure; the cut in services that would affect the Central Brooklyn community; the negative impact that the closure of the hospital would have on the students at the SUNY Medical College; and

WHEREAS, the AFT is the second-largest union representing nurses and healthcare professionals in the national AFL-CIO; and

WHEREAS, under the leadership of AFT President Randi Weingarten and the entire AFT family, the New York State Public Employees Federation joined its union siblings at the United University Professions, the New York State United Teachers and other unions, as well as clergy, community groups and elected state representatives to fight back against this ill-conceived and poorly planned closure; and

WHEREAS, the Brooklyn Needs Downstate coalition sought additional state operating and capital monies to keep SUNY Downstate functioning as a longer-term plan and vision could be developed and achieved under a transparent, community-driven process that includes all affected stakeholders with the overarching goal to guarantee the continuation of SUNY Downstate Hospital’s vital contributions to the health and well-being of the residents of Central Brooklyn; and

WHEREAS, as part of the 2024 Budget Agreement and thanks to the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Zellnor Myrie, Assembly member Brian Cunningham and the Democratic majorities in both houses of the state Legislature, the Brooklyn Needs Downstate coalition successfully achieved sufficient operating and capital support to maintain SUNY Downstate through the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, and a representative task force to review the current operations and make recommendations on the future of SUNY Downstate; and

WHEREAS, the Brooklyn Needs Downstate coalition understands that these are only short-term achievements and that much more work is needed to protect the long-term status of SUNY Downstate as a public hospital; and

WHEREAS, the Brooklyn Needs Downstate coalition is dedicated to organizing and educating the residents of Brooklyn on the need to maintain and improve SUNY Downstate and will continue to educate policymakers at the state and federal levels that SUNY Downstate should be maintained and is worthy of additional investment and support:

RESOLVED, that this body pause in its deliberations to thank AFT President Randi Weingarten for her unwavering support for the Brooklyn Needs Downstate coalition; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT, under the leadership of President Randi Weingarten, will continue to provide critical financial, technical and media support, and guidance to the Brooklyn Needs Downstate coalition so that it can achieve its ultimate goal of maintaining SUNY Downstate as a state-operated public institution that continues to provide inpatient services, medical education and other critical services to the Central Brooklyn community.