‘We need good medical care’: New Yorkers want to save SUNY Downstate Medical Center

EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (PIX11) — Calls to save SUNY Downstate Medical Center were renewed Thursday. The hospital is facing a looming threat of closure, citing financial struggles and a building in disrepair.

The community rallied to keep the hospital open amidst state budget delays.

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“We need good medical care, but we also need good doctors and enough hospital beds,” said East Flatbush resident Neville Anglin. “Spaces to serve the community at large.”

Anglin joined dozens of demonstrators at a rally amidst plans to close the hospital that has served central Brooklyn for more than a century. A wave of determination swept through the streets of Brooklyn as demonstrators marched from The Lenox Road Baptist Church where a prayer service set the tone for their unified stand. With signs held high, the group made their way to the hospital’s doorstep while blocking traffic along the way.

Sources at SUNY Downstate have said previously that while they don’t plan to close the hospital fully, they are looking to transfer in-patient services to surrounding facilities, including right across the street at New York Health and Hospitals/Kings County. Redetha Abrahams-Nichols is a SUNY Downstate employee who worries that nearby hospitals will be overwhelmed with an influx of patients.

“Without this hospital, people have 12 hours waiting times at Kings County Hospital, and I know that for sure because I had two friends that were seen there last night,” Abrahams-Nichols said. “The hospital’s very necessary in this community. It provides a lot of care, transplant, women and children’s care.”

The potential closure comes amid what sources say is a financial strain on the hospital and a crumbling building. Governor Kathy Hochul has promised to allocate $400 million in the state budget which was supposed to be passed nearly three weeks ago. Assemblyman Brian Cunningham said that while budget negotiations continue, he’s working to ensure SUNY Downstate gets the funding it needs to survive with a new bill he’s pushing to get passed.

“Make sure that we have $100 million in expenses for SUNY Downstate’s operating cost for the next year,” said Cunningham. “As well as $300 million in a lockbox tied to a commission that would study the future of SUNY Downstate.”

The assemblyman said he and other lawmakers would continue budget negotiations through Friday when he expects the state budget to be finalized.

A spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul says she’s currently working on a plan to stabilize SUNY Downstate.

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