Gov. Cuomo scored a victory Thursday, winning federal approval for a Medicaid waiver that will mean $8 billion in funding to help transform several hospitals — including the cash-strapped Brookdale, Interfaith and Wyckoff Heights hospitals in Brooklyn — into “sustainable” models that meet the health-care needs of their communities.
That still leaves Long Island College Hospital, which SUNY wants to shut and sell.
But the larger question raised by this waiver remains: Are Mayor de Blasio and his activist friends open to a deal on Brooklyn’s failing hospitals? Political intransigence has been the stumbling block to realistic solutions. And De Blasio has been at the head of the pack.
Publicly, at least, the mayor isn’t backing down: In his recent State of the City Address, he vowed “we will not retreat” on putting “the health of our people ahead of profits.”On Thursday, he again denounced “reckless hospital closures.”
To de Blasio and his allies, that means maintaining LICH as a full-service hospital. But that’s not remotely realistic. As Gov. Cuomo told The Post’s editorial board: “You can’t sustain the number of beds we now have. It is an unsustainable system. We want to close hospitals that we don’t need and transform the system.” The waiver money would allow Albany to do with some hospitals, since it requires them to reduce the number of beds.
That still leaves LICH. And unfortunately the political and activist intransigence enjoys the backing of State Supreme Court Justice Johnny Lee Baynes. A former public-union lawyer, Baynes threatens to hold SUNY in contempt of court if it persists in trying to shut down LICH.
But there are fissures in the coalition. State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery recently became the first local official to break with the activists and concede that a full-service hospital is simply not viable. She’s backing one of four bids for LICH that would provide emergency and comprehensive care and build new affordable housing.
SUNY reportedly may reopen the bidding to try and attract new bidders willing to keep a full-service hospital open, as the mayor and his allies want. None thus far have been interested — with good reason: LICH is losing $13 million a month and has $500 million in liabilities.
Brooklyn’s health-care needs to be brought into the 21st century. As the governor appreciates, that first means acknowledging the fiscal and health-care realities of the failing status quo.
How de Blasio responds will tell us whether he’s interested in a solution for the borough’s hospitals — or a permanent campaign.