(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - United University Professions (UUP) President Frederick Kowal – who heads the Nation’s largest Higher Education Union, has released the following statement on the State University of New York (SUNY) System withholding operating aid for SUNY Downstate University Hospital:

It is shameful and indefensible that State aid has been withheld from SUNY Downstate University Hospital.

This brazen decision by SUNY Chancellor King shows just how little respect SUNY has for the residents of Brooklyn.

This is a crisis of SUNY’s own making.

Chancellor King has had six months to create a budget plan for SUNY Downstate.

He chose not to, knowing full well his inaction would block the release of $100 million in State funding for the hospital in the 2024-2025 State budget.

This is not an oversight.

This is by design.

Because the funds are being withheld, the Chancellor can now say the hospital is in financial peril - further bolstering his case to close it.

For decades, our Union has fought for an affordable, accessible public college education for all in New York and across the Nation.

A strong Federal reinvestment in Public Higher Education is necessary to reach this goal.

Investing in Public Higher Education is investing in America’s future.

But for far too many students, college isn’t even an option.

The cost of a college education is out of reach.

But Downstate Hospital is not the Chancellor’s kingdom.

In fact, the people of Brooklyn have voiced their intolerance of bureaucrats in Albany who make decisions that impact the health and well-being of the 400,000 people treated at Downstate Hospital every year.

We implore the Governor to release these funds, force the Chancellor to do his job, announce the State-appointed Advisory Board and let Community and Health Leaders get to work ensuring the future of SUNY Downstate University Hospital.

UUP represents more than 42,000 Academic and Professional Faculty and Retirees who work at 29 New York State-operated campuses, including SUNY’s Public Teaching Hospitals and Health Science Centers in Brooklyn, Long Island and Syracuse.

It is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA) and the AFL-CIO.

To Directly Access This Labor News Story, Go To: Statement by UUP President Frederick E. Kowal on SUNY withholding Operating Aid for SUNY Downstate University Hospital