Although Queens is considered to be “under bedded” in terms of hospital beds per resident, most Queens residents have access to medical services in close proximity to where they live or work. We do not turn anyone away.
Today, access to healthcare close to home is threatened.
Right now there is a firestorm of debate amongst stewards of the health care system, hospital and nursing home leaders, the new Governor’s office, and state and local elected officials over $1.2 billion in healthcare cuts that are currently in our Governor’s proposed 2007-08 Executive Budget.
Those cuts would come in several areas including, but not limited to, Medicaid reimbursement, graduate medical education programs, worker recruitment and worker retention funding, and a tax on gross receipts.
Like many healthcare leaders across the state, I realize that reform is necessary in some parts of our state’s complex and complicated system. However, the cuts as proposed in the Governor’s budget will not inspire reform where it is needed most.
This approach will not increase coverage for children or our residents that live below the poverty line. Nor will they focus attention on the aspects of Medicaid that can and should be reformed. The cuts as proposed will not encourage home-based long-term care. Nor will they standardize or improve the quality measures of medical care throughout the state.
While the outcome of the debate over the proposed budget is uncertain, one thing we can be sure of is that $1 billion in health care cuts statewide will force most hospitals to end much-needed programs. The Healthcare Association of New York State has estimated that through the Governor’s proposed cuts New York Hospital Queens could lose over $2.3 million per year.
On top of these prospective state cuts, there are tremendous reductions proposed in President Bush’s budget. When the state and federal proposed cuts are combined, New York Hospital Queens stands to lose between $10.9 million and $15.3 million in a single year. That would be absolutely devastating to our ability to serve this community.
If the proposed cuts are enacted it will have a real impact on our ability to provide quality care of the depth and breadth that we have worked for years to build in, and for, the Queens community. Our neighbors of all ages, economic levels, and cultures will be affected. So will our employees if we have to close clinics or end programs.
Cuts of any significance will prevent our ability to keep pace with technological advances that can improve patient care, and the safe delivery of that care. Cuts will affect plans for growth such as our modernization and building program that has just gotten underway. With an already full hospital, without growth it becomes that much more difficult to serve a community that is also bursting at the seams.
Moreover, we are not the only hospital in Queens that will be deeply affected.
If you would like more information on the proposed budgets or the proposals that leaders of our state healthcare system believe are more suited to putting patient care at the top of the budgeting agenda, please go to our website nyhq.org. There, you can also find a letter that you can send to local elected officials to let them know you support their efforts to retain high quality healthcare services in your own backyard.
Stephen S. Mills is President and Chief Executive Officer of New York Hospital Queens
