Our stand

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New York State’s “Triple Aim” on healthcare actually has four goals: improving the quality of care, improving health outcomes for the people of New York, providing equal access to care, and containing the costs of healthcare.

NYSNA’s guiding principles

We applaud these goals, and share them. But goals are not enough. We measure proposed healthcare reforms – including regulations regarding ambulatory care services and free-standing emergency departments – on the following principles:

  1. A comprehensive assessment of local needs must drive healthcare distribution and resource allocation.
  2. The state, local governments, and the community must make healthcare distribution and resource allocation decisions.
  3. Corporate interests cannot dictate the operation of healthcare delivery services.
  4. For-profits in healthcare are the primary force behind today’s healthcare crisis, pushing up costs and distorting the way healthcare resources are allocated.
  5. The major goal of healthcare restructuring must be to move away from, and limit the prevalence of, market-based, competitive, for-profit models of healthcare delivery.

Ambulatory care

NYSNA continues to speak out against the influence of corporate healthcare and for a healthcare system that’s responsive to local needs and strengthened by community participation in the planning process.

We strongly support rigorous state oversight by the Dept. of Health (DOH) and through the CON process of any expansion of ambulatory care services. And we call for regulations on such services that establish:

  • Clearly defined and enforceable standards on quality, practice, minimum staffing, and the scope of services.
  • Preference for nonprofit and existing Article 28 providers.
  • DOH as solely responsible for oversight (we oppose the state delegating accreditation to any outside organization).
  • Guaranteed access to care regardless of a patient’s insurance or ability to cover out-of-pocket expenses.

Free-standing emergency departments

So far, the community and NYSNA have been able to keep the emergency room in Plattsburgh open 24/7. But the Hospital Association of New York will probably try again to close it. And up to 12 other emergency departments in New York may be submitting plans to the Dept. of Health for similar downgrades or to become free-standing facilities.

NYSNA supports a full CON review of applications for free-standing emergency departments, but we believe that communities know what they need and must have a real say in such decision-making.

NYSNA opposes regulatory revisions that would allow off-campus EDs to operate part-time. This model threatens public health by limiting access to life-saving, time-sensitive medical care in cases of strokes, cardiac arrest, and serious injury. And it creates a dangerous precedent for cutting services more broadly.

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