(BROOKLYN) – New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-Represented Nurses and Physicians from two Brooklyn Hospitals on the verge of closure - Long Island College Hospital (LICH) and the Interfaith Medical Center - joined with Clergy, Neighbors and Patients from the Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy) Community in front of Governor Cuomo’s Office in Mid-Manhattan late this week.  Their Message: Keep our Hospitals Open and Stop Pushing an Experimental For-Profit Health Care Agenda that would ruin Brooklyn Patient Care, especially for Communities of Color.
 
“The Governor and Real Estate Developers are pushing an Experimental ‘For-Profit’ Health Care ‘Pilot Program,’” LICH/RN Linda O’Neill said during the Rally outside the Governor’s Office. “Brooklyn Patients are their ‘Guinea Pigs.’”

First made public on January 22nd, the Governor's Draft Budget calls for an Experimental Pilot Program that would allow Hedge Funds or Private-Equity Investors to experiment with a For-Profit Hospital in Brooklyn.  Right now, the State's Certificate of Need Process prevents For-Profit Hospitals from operating in New York State.

Last week, The New York Times (Judge Orders HCA to Pay $162 Million/January 24th)
reported again on how these Out-Of-State, Private/For-Profit Health-Care Chains sacrifice Patients for the bottom line.

“Interfaith serves Bed-Stuy, a predominantly Low-Income, People-Of-Color Community which already suffers from a Shortage in Health-Care Services,” Interfaith Medical Center RN Ari Moma said. “If the Governor gets his way, it’s only going to get worse.”
 
Brooklyn Nurses say the Governor should be “strengthening” Brooklyn Community Hospitals instead of driving them “deeper into crisis.”  The Union-Represented Nurses also say the Financial Crisis facing LICH and Interfaith are due to “Gross Financial Mismanagement of Private Consulting Firms” and that “Patients shouldn’t have to pay for ‘their’ misdeeds.”

Meanwhile, Real-Estate Developers are also eyeing LICH's prime location in one of Brooklyn's Hottest Neighborhoods.  "The Developers think ‘our’ Hospital is worth more ‘dead’ than ‘alive,’” RN O'Neill told those who attended the Rally outside the Governor’s Office.
 
The Rally was organized by the African-American Clergy and Elected Officials Organization.  It was endorsed by NYSNA, The Bed-Stuy Works Alliance, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), District Leader Robert Cornegy, the Bridge Street Development Corporation, the Save Our Safety Net Campaign, and the Committee for Interns and Residents (CIR).

NYSNA - The Voice For Nursing In The Empire State - Represents more than 37,000 Members, and is the State's Largest Professional Association and Union for RNs.  The Union also supports Nurses and Nursing Practice through Education, Research, Legislative Advocacy and Collective Bargaining.