Gov to Bill: Hosp to it!
ALBANY — A top aide to Gov. Cuomo said Wednesday it’s time for Mayor de Blasio to make a decision on a replacement for the failing Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn.
Appearing with Cuomo before the Daily News Editorial Board, Secretary to the Governor Lawrence Schwartz said the city and “other stakeholders” need to pick between two competing proposals for developing the site.
The hospital, known as LICH, is costing its owner, the State University of New York, millions of dollars a week, he said.
“They have to come to a conclusion and a decision fast because the burn rate for SUNY right now is $13 million a month and they are over $100 million in the hole — and that impacts the entire SUNY system,” Schwartz said.
De Blasio made the hospital’s planned shutdown a major issue in the mayoral race. He even got arrested during one protest — an incident, his aides have said, that helped to give his campaign crucial visibility and momentum.
On Wednesday, however, Cuomo made clear that a traditional, full-service hospital could not be financially viable at the site; there just aren’t enough patients, he said.
The governor said, however, there should be a health-care facility at the LICH site offering emergency and primary care. The two existing proposals for the property would do that, he said.
One replacement plan would have the nearby Brooklyn Hospital Center team up with a developer to create 1,000 housing units — 350 of them “affordable” — on the site as well as an outpatient medical facility with 24-hour emergency services.
Under a competing plan, Fortis Property Group and Manhattanbased NYU Langone Medical Center would replace LICH with condos and an outpatient facility that includes an emergency medicine department.
“If the Brooklyn proposal is superior to the Fortis proposal, then everyone should get on the same page, approve it and go forward,” Schwartz said. “If not, sign the deal with Fortis and let’s move forward.”
Asked about the comments of Cuomo and his aide, de Blasio spokeswoman Marti Adams wouldn’t say whether the mayor is open to a plan that doesn’t include a full-service hospital.
“Mayor de Blasio and his team are actively involved in moving the parties to a resolution that meets the health care needs of this community,” Adams said.