A coalition of healthcare workers and community advocates are urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to maintain inpatient services at University Hospital at Downstate in Brooklyn after the state shared plans in January to significantly reduce or potentially close the facility.
Brooklyn for Downstate, a community coalition formed earlier this year to prevent the hospital's closure, published a proposal Dec. 3, outlining a plan to preserve inpatient services at the facility. The report, shared with numerous local news outlets, calls for reducing the hospital's inpatient capacity from from 342 to 250 beds, emergency department renovations, investments to improve maternity care, and the establishment of new outpatient and urgent care centers. The coalition is also urging the state to maintain SUNY Downstate's kidney transplant program, which is the only program of its kind in Brooklyn.
"SUNY Downstate has the only transplant services in Brooklyn," Matt Leonardo, an analyst who helped inform the proposal, told Spectrum News NY1. "The closure of SUNY Downstate would likely lead to the loss of transplant services, not just for this community, but the entire borough."
SUNY Downstate is part of SUNY Downstate Health and Sciences University, the only public academic medical center in New York City. In January, the state shared plans to either scale back services at the hospital or potentially close it, citing low patient volumes, deteriorating infrastructure and a $100 million operating deficit.
At the time, Ms. Hochul's office released a plan that would involve transferring all inpatient services to other Brooklyn hospitals, including NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, which is across the street from Downstate. The plan also recommended a $500 million investment to expand outpatient services in a new facility. That plan was put on hold in the spring amid budget negotiations. Critics of the plan say focusing namely on outpatient care and limiting services that require a hospital stay could exacerbate disparities in outcomes among patients in the region.
The state has convened an advisory panel to submit recommendations on the hospital's future, which are expected to be submitted by April 1.