February 5, 2025
Leaders who speak on behalf of Brooklyn’s SUNY Downstate University Hospital brought the fight for its future to the halls of the state Capitol.
At a Feb. 4 press conference, Brooklyn faith leaders, legislators and union leaders called on the Downstate Community Advisory Board (DCAB)—appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to gather public input and recommend a long-term plan for the hospital—to give community members more say and more time to comment before submitting their report, due April 1.
They also urged the governor to let the community’s needs dictate how much money should be spent on expanding and upgrading the Central Brooklyn hospital.
A plan by the Brooklyn for Downstate community group would upgrade inpatient services and include Emergency Department renovations; expanding and upgrading Maternal and OB-GYN services; modernizing Downstate’s kidney transplant center, heart surgery and cardiovascular programs; and create urgent care and ambulatory surgery centers.
On Feb. 3, UUP’s Executive Board endorsed Brooklyn for Downstate’s proposal. Click HERE to read the Brooklyn for Downstate plan.
The Rev. Dr. Charles Galbreath, senior pastor of Brooklyn’s Alliance Tabernacle Church, spoke of the ways the care and education provided at the hospital are woven through his life. His voice booming from the limestone walls, Galbreath recalled the times he and others have come to the defense of the hospital and how important it is to invest in it.
“We stand for what is just, what is equitable. We have heard ‘no’ before, but we aren’t going anywhere,” Galbreath said.
A coalition of Brooklyn clergy, union leaders, community leaders, medical professionals and elected officials united last year killed SUNY’s plan to close the hospital. Now, with $750 million secured in the 2025-26 state budget for operating aid and capital spending costs, the group has turned its attention expanding and upgrading the facility, which treats more than 400,000 patients annually—regardless of whether they can afford to pay for care. ”
Assembled in November, the DCAB has held several meetings—all behind closed doors—and staged the first of three public hearings Jan. 22 in Brooklyn. That meeting drew 300 people and lasted for three hours. Speakers called for, among other things, better maternity care, upgrades to facilities and more nursing staff. The next hearing is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 27 at Medgar Evers College on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.
PEF President Wayne Spence said “death by 1,000 cuts” set the hospital up for failure.
“We all remember the refrigerator trucks during the pandemic,” Spence said, referring to the temporary morgue outside Downstate during the height of the pandemic. “Let’s remember the lives saved. I don’t know what’s around the corner, but I know we need to have the hospital open, flourishing and invested in. Do the right thing.”
UUP President Frederick Kowal, a DCAB member, called the duty of listening to the community a sacred obligation. He said the state must make the hospital whole after more than a decade of disinvestment.
Both Sen. Monique Chandler-Waterman, a Democrat from the 58th District and Assembly Member Brian Cunningham, also a Democrat from Brooklyn, slipped out of meetings during a busy day of advocacy visits at the Capitol to join the press conference.
The hospital is not in Chandler-Waterman’s district, but many of her constituents use it, she said. The senator said she is worried that doctors and nurses will leave Downstate because they don’t know what the future holds for the hospital.
NYSUT President Melinda Person also spoke at the press conference, along with Bishop Orlando Findlayter—a Brooklyn for Downstate steering committee member—and Minister John Williams.