UUPdate

December 1, 2006

Unions testify against SUNY hospital privatization

UUP President Bill Scheuerman (right) and NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin testify against the Berger Commission’s recommendation to conduct a study on privatizing the state’s three SUNY teaching hospitals.

Scheuerman and Lubin were among the union leaders testifying before the state Senate Health Committee in Albany on December 1, urging state lawmakers to reject the Berger commission’s recommendations for health care facilities, warning that the recommendations, if enacted, could force the three State University hospitals and their affiliated medical schools to close.

“These hospitals provide a lifeline for their communities, offering services many may not otherwise have access to,” Scheuerman told the packed committee hearing. “If privatized, it is likely that many of the more expensive and unique of these critical services provided would be cut back, or, more likely, completely abolished,” he said.

Scheuerman said privatization would affect SUNY’s teaching hospitals in Brooklyn, Syracuse and Stony Brook beyond the level of clinical and specialized care provided, warning that it would endanger accessible, affordable public medical education in New York State.

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