NEWS AND ISSUES
From NYS Senate Health Committee Chair Thomas K. Duane
and NYS Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried
April 8, 2010
Hon. David A. Paterson
New York State Governor
Executive Chamber
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Paterson:
We write to you as the State Senate and Assembly Health Committee Chairs. We also represent the community in which St. Vincent’s Hospital is located. The decision by the Board of St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center to close the hospital’s inpatient units was deeply disappointing, and while we continue to fight for a replacement, it is necessary that we now also move forward to ensure critical health care services are preserved on Manhattan’s Lower West Side.
We remain committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders and commend the Governor’s office for continuing to convene and maintain the St. Vincent’s Task Force. We believe the Task Force will remain not only a sounding board (although its membership may need to be adjusted to reflect the changing nature of the revised mission), but also a powerful mechanism to identify and secure health care services for the St. Vincent’s community. Our ultimate goal, which we are sure is shared by the Executive and the Department of Health, is to guarantee that the health care needs of these communities are met at the greatest level.
St. Vincent’s has served a unique and vital role in our districts and beyond for generations. We respectfully and purposefully want to remind you of some of the ways in which St. Vincent’s is special and life-sustaining.
- It provides primary care, not only at the hospital, but at various community sites across lower Manhattan.
- Its services are culturally sensitive and responsive to local community needs. Chinatown Health Services, a comprehensive primary care center, is open 7 days/week.
- It was an innovator in care to homeless people, and remains an important provider of care to that population.
- It operates a state-of-the-art birthing center, and its obstetrics services are of the highest quality.
- Its HIV Center is one of the oldest and largest in the United States and is the largest HIV program in the state. Its Designated AIDS Center has the highest volume in Manhattan.
- It provides extensive chemical dependency services.
- It has always opened its doors to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
- Its behavioral health services include age-specific programs for children, adults, seniors and their families, and bilingual, bicultural services for Latinos.
In point of fact, the aforementioned list of services is by no means exhaustive.
As we move forward, we expect, and of course we believe, the Department will keep the needs of the St. Vincent’s community front and foremost. It is essential to preserve the 24-hour emergency services, widely available and culturally sensitive community-based primary care, and the specialty services that have been at the core of St. Vincent’s commitment to Manhattan’s Lower West Side neighborhoods and the City as a whole. People who currently receive care at St. Vincent’s, whether for primary care, geriatric care, psychiatric care, HIV/AIDS care, or obstetrics, must continue to be able to receive that care seamlessly, conveniently and at the same high quality and level of intensity.
Governor, you and the Department of Health have many mechanisms by which you can impact the outcome of this devastating impending closure. Among the powerful legal and regulatory tools at your disposal are withholding approval for the closure of the inpatient facility and the licensing of any new facility, as well as other less formal governmental interventions.
We believe it appropriate and critically important that HEAL money that had previously been awarded to St. Vincent’s remain available to ease the transition the hospital and our communities are facing. We hope and expect that the transitional St. Vincent’s will be eligible for the newly announced HEAL NY Medicaid Transition Funding. We recognize the financial challenges facing New York at this juncture, but financing must be made available to keep an appropriate level and scope of health services on the Lower West Side of Manhattan and beyond.
Governor, you have already shown your commitment to meeting the health care needs of our constituents by signing progressive health care legislation and providing enormous public financial investment during the St. Vincent’s crisis. We look forward to ongoing engagement with all stakeholders – City, State and Federal officials, as well as the hospital representatives, community representatives and labor – as we assure that the individuals who live and work in our communities and neighborhoods continue to receive the high-quality care that St. Vincent’s has provided for over a century.
Sincerely,Thomas K. Duane
Chair
New York State Senate Committee on Health
Richard N. Gottfried
Chair
New York State Assembly Committee on Health
cc: Richard Daines, MD, Commissioner, New York State Department of Health
