WEINER OFFERS PLAN TO SAVE CITY’S TROUBLED HOSPITALS

24 CITY HOSPITALS HAVE CLOSED OR AT RISK OF CLOSING

MINORITY COMMUNITIES FEELING DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT

New York City – Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn) unveiled his five point plan to stop the City’s troubled hospitals from closing their doors.

Twenty-four City hospitals have closed in recent years or are currently at risk of closing, and it’s the City’s minority communities who are feeling a disproportionate impact.

THE WEINER PLAN TO SAVE OUR HOSPITALS:

Give the Mayor Authority Over Hospital Construction and Expansion – Currently, decisions about who gets to build new medical centers, which hospitals get to expand and establish new departments, and which get to purchase new equipment are made by the Governor, in Albany. The Mayor should have the authority to make these decisions for New York City hospitals.

Use Medicaid Fraud Damages to Help Subsidize Troubled Hospitals – Each year the State spends more than $44 billion dollars on Medicaid, a quarter of which comes from the City, but there is virtually no fraud oversight. To improve oversight, Attorney General Spitzer wants to give the State authority to recover treble damages where fraud is proven. A portion of the revenue generated from increased penalties should be used to help subsidize the City’s financially troubled hospitals.

Build Health Networks Between Hospitals and Churches – The Institute for Urban Family Health used a federal grant to create Bronx Health REACH: a program that brought together 14 churches, NYU, health care organizations and others to increase awareness in the Bronx about preventative care and the treatment of diseases like Diabetes. The City should take an active role in facilitating networks modeled on Bronx Health REACH in all five boroughs.

Implement Electronic System to Enroll New Medicaid Recipients – There are currently 504,000 New Yorkers eligible for Medicaid who are unenrolled. As Mayor, Weiner would implement an electronic system to automatically save basic data, streamline approvals and eliminate redundancies to make enrolling quicker, easier and more accessible. This would mean better care for City residents, delivered more efficiently, and more revenue for area hospitals.

Expand Translation Services at Neighborhood Hospitals -- There are at least 138 languages spoken in New York City. As Mayor, Weiner would expand translations services at neighborhood hospitals to make sure that a language barrier is not a barrier to treatment.

Thirteen New York City hospitals have been closed since 1994, costing 2295 hospital beds. 1311 of those beds, or 57.1%, served minority communities.

An additional eleven hospitals are currently at risk of closing, which would cost the city an additional 3051 beds. [sources: Crain’s; the New York Times; the Staten Island Advance] Of those, 1746, or 57.2% serve minority communities.

And a new task force set up by Governor Pataki is expected to recommend more closings in December of 2006. 

Weiner unveiled his five point plan today, standing in front of the St. Mary’s Hospital, in Crown Heights. St. Mary’s announced this year that it will have to close.

“No Mayor should stand idly by while hospitals close in the communities that need them most,” said Rep. Weiner. “Illnesses like diabetes, asthma, even depression require our immediate attention. Our neighborhoods deserve better, and as Mayor I’ll fight for them.”