If you’ve been following the news, you probably know already that Brooklyn hospitals are in crisis.
Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in downtown Brooklyn could be the first of many community hospitals to fall victim to a new wave of profit driven health care changes.
Interfaith could be next — it’s currently in bankruptcy and the deadline to reach an agreement to merge with Brooklyn Hospital is February 1st. Interfaith serves Bed-Stuy, a community which already suffers from a shortage in healthcare services that will be worsened if the hospital closes.
Governor Cuomo wants to experiment on low-income communities of color with a for-profit hospital model that has failed patients across the country.
In his latest budget, Cuomo outlined a plan for a flagship for-profit hospital in Brooklyn. And powerful forces in Albany are trying to deregulate the Certificate of Need process that gives caregivers and patients a voice in protecting healthcare services.
SUNY Downstate, which owns LICH, could be making unlawful backroom deals with Cuomo to silence Brooklyn community voices and plow through their plan to close the hospital.
But nurses are not going to sit by and allow our patients to lose the care they need.
We’re fighting back.
Join us! We’re rallying with Brooklyn community allies at Governor Cuomo’s New York City office to demand that Cuomo protect care for Brooklyn patients.
The public is already hearing our message. Last Friday we took to the streets and joined fellow caregivers and elected leaders to demand that LICH stay open for our community. News outlets across New York City, including New York 1 and The Daily News, covered our protest.
But real estate developers, who think LICH is worth more dead than alive, and health industry profiteers are trying to convince New Yorkers that this vibrant community hospital is broke. They’re spreading misinformation so that they can move forward with their own corporate agenda.
We’re not going to stop fighting. We must save LICH and Interfaith to protect Brooklyn patients.
Can’t make it to the rally? You can still help!
Here’s how: