For Immediate Release

February 4, 2025

Downstate Community Advisory Board must open its meetings, schedule more public hearings and pay heed to public concerns and suggestions before deciding on a plan for the Central Brooklyn teaching hospital.

Video of the press conference is available HERE.

ALBANY -- At a noon press conference today at the state Capitol, Brooklyn faith leaders joined state legislators and union leaders in calling on the Downstate Community Advisory Board (DCAB) to open its meetings to the public and schedule more public hearings before an April 1 deadline to recommend a long-term plan for SUNY Downstate’s University Hospital.

They also cautioned that a price range to upgrade and expand the hospital cannot be set until the public has a full, fair opportunity to comment. Public input must determine the funding needed to meet the long-term needs of the hospital.

The DCAB, appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to gather public input before submitting its report, is meeting behind closed doors and is not providing nearly enough opportunities for community members to provide insight and data that can be used to upgrade and expand the Central Brooklyn public teaching hospital.

At a Jan. 22 public hearing, the first of only three hearings scheduled, it took nearly an hour before the first of nearly 40 concerned citizens was invited to speak. Most speakers ran well past the two minutes allotted to them and talked over the meeting moderator—a SUNY-hired consultant—as she pressed them to wrap up their comments. Her assistant held a digital clock with an alarm that sounded when a speaker’s time was up.

Expanding its public comment process may require the DCAB to push back its April 1 deadline to give the community more time to air concerns and offer solutions regarding Downstate, which treats more than 400,000 patients annually and turns no one away, regardless of whether they can pay for care.

Such an extension would give the DCAB more time to consider Brooklyn for Downstate’s plan for Downstate’s future. The proposal includes upgrading inpatient services such as Emergency Department renovations; expanding and upgrading Maternal and OB-GYN services; establishing inpatient oncology care; modernizing Downstate’s kidney transplant center, heart surgery and cardiovascular programs; and creating new urgent care and ambulatory surgery centers.

Click HERE to read the Brooklyn For Downstate plan.

Faith and union leaders also thanked the governor for setting aside $450 million in capital funding and $100 million in operating aid for Downstate in her 2025-2026 Executive Budget. That’s in addition to $300 million in capital funding in this year’s state budget—which would need to be reappropriated in the approved 2025-2026 state budget if is not used by the end of the fiscal year.

However, more funding might be necessary to incorporate changes and address concerns raised by community members at the Jan. 22 public hearing and at upcoming hearings scheduled for Feb. 27 and mid-March.

Setting an artificial, pre-determined cost range before fully gathering public input isn’t fair to the tens of thousands of Brooklynites who depend on Downstate hospital for care annually. The needs of the community should dictate the scope of inpatient services provided by Downstate, not a dollar amount that dictates those services.

“We thank the governor for $750 million for improvements to Downstate, but that’s not enough,” said Bishop Orlando Findlayter, senior pastor at New Hope Christian Fellowship in Brooklyn and a Brooklyn for Downstate steering committee member. “Brooklyn needs and deserves an upgraded, expanded and modernized hospital. We expect nothing less. We will not allow the state or SUNY or anyone else to disrespect us and give us crumbs.”

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie and state Assembly members Brian Cunningham and Monique Chandler-Waterman spoke at the event, as did PEF President Wayne D. Spence, United University Professions President Frederick E. Kowal and NYSUT President Melinda Person.

Along with Findlayter, five Brooklyn faith leaders also spoke: Rev. Dr. Charles Galbreath; Rev. Gilford Monrose; Rev. Dr. Winston Fyne; Pastor Kyran Leo John; and Minister John Williams.

"My community has made it clear: we will accept nothing less than a real plan that protects SUNY Downstate and addresses Central Brooklyn's healthcare disparities. We need a truly transparent engagement process, and a commitment to expanding access to affordable care in a community that needs and deserves it. Downstate needs us, because Brooklyn needs Downstate!," said state Sen. Zellnor Myrie.

“As a union, we’ve been fighting for the survival of SUNY Downstate for nearly 15 years. Governor Cuomo attempted to close it in 2011, and then Chancellor King tried again last year. We thank Governor Hochul for not following through on that, and for the money that has been allocated to reimagine this critical facility. Now let’s make sure the Advisory Board has enough time to solicit input from all stakeholders so they can put forth a plan that restores Downstate to be the gold standard of healthcare for the Central Brooklyn community that depends on it,” said PEF President Wayne D. Spence.

“Creating a sustainable, long-term plan to keep SUNY Downstate open and maintain vital, life-saving services requires careful consideration and time. The community members who depend on Downstate for care must have an opportunity to share their concerns. This process should be transparent, fostering open and honest dialogue to ensure Downstate can continue to fulfill its important public healthcare mission,” said New York AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento. “The future of SUNY Downstate must reflect the voices and experiences of those it impacts most. We are on a path to reshaping this institution into a vital healthcare center that aligns with Brooklyn's needs, and this goal requires an open, transparent, and complete dialogue that engages the entire community,” said NYSUT President Melinda Person.

“Downstate is in crisis because the state of New York and SUNY neglected our hospital and has not invested in it. Now, the Downstate Community Advisory Board, which is charged with recommending what our community hospital should look like in the future—and must base that decision on public input—is holding closed-door meetings and has scheduled just three public hearings before it makes its decision. In its first public hearing on Jan. 22, everyone, including doctors with 30 or 40 years of experience, were given just 2 minutes to make their remarks. That was rude and it’s disrespectful. We need a more open, transparent process.” said Bishop Findlayter.