Paterson vetoes hospital closure bill

Citing unnecessary costs to the state, Governor David A. Paterson vetoed the proposed Hospital Closure Planning Act, disappointing many Queens elected officials who lobbied for its passage.
The governor vetoed the bill, which would have required the State Department of Health (DOH) to issue a report within 30 days of a hospital’s closure, on Friday, October 9 because he said it would overburden the state by requiring actions that he believes are already in place.
“I believe that the DOH process is thorough and robust, and I believe the alternate process proposed by the bill would be both burdensome and redundant,” said Paterson in his veto message to Queens assemblymembers.
According to the governor’s veto message, medical facilities are required to notify the DOH at least 90 days in advance of closing so that they may take the proper actions. These actions include notifying the appropriate parties, referring patients to other sources of care, storage of medical records and discontinuing of new admissions.
The governor also stated that issuing retroactive reports on hospitals that already closed, referring to Mary Immaculate and St. John’s, is not cost feasible and a waste of state resources.
“I do not believe that there would be any productive purpose for reports and public hearings on closings that have already taken place,” Paterson said in a statement.
This explanation did not sit well with local Queens elected officials who pushed for the bill’s approval and lobbied for public involvement in a hospital’s closure.
“The governor’s veto is very disappointing, and leaves the two million residents of Queens in the dark about how the health care services which were lost when Mary Immaculate and St. John’s hospitals closed will be made up for,” said Assemblymember Rory Lancman. “But we remain as determined as ever to ensuring that Queens gets the health care services we need and deserve.”
Assemblymember Mike Miller echoed Lancman’s concern for the impact on the community and the lack of input the public has on the process.
“The veto is an unfortunate disappointment to me, my constituents and all New Yorkers,” said Miller. “It empowered the public through education and mitigated the negative effects of a hospital closure.”