Public Employee Press

Pataki’s plan threatens health of HHC
Budget cuts target long-term care facilities

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

For Gov. George E. Pataki, it doesn’t seem to matter that during 2002 more than 1.2 million New Yorkers were treated at HHC hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. Many of these patients were children, the elderly, and the disabled. Some were homeless and most had no health insurance coverage.

The governor also does not seem to care that these New Yorkers received quality health care at some of the finest hospitals in the country. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) completed a citywide survey last year that included Harlem, Bellevue, Woodhull, North Central Bronx and Coler-Goldwater hospitals. These HHC institutions received some of the highest scores of all hospitals in the city for their excellent patient care.

Despite the accolades that the HHC facilities have received and despite the crucial need they fill for the city’s most vulnerable residents, Pataki’s 2004-2005 executive budget would cut $1.6 billion from the state’s Medicaid program. This huge budget slash would cut HHC to the bone.

New York State law mandates HHC to provide health care to all New Yorkers, regardless of their ability to pay or their citizenship status. HHC patients use Medicaid for a variety of reasons — prescription drugs, home care, family planning services and long-term institutional care.

Coler-Goldwater hardest hit
The hospitals that would take the hardest hit are the city’s long-term care institutions like the Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility on Roosevelt Island. The largest facility of its kind in the state, Coler-Goldwater serves nearly 1,900 patients daily. Under Pataki’s proposed budget the hospital could lose $26 million.

Union members who work at the facility are well aware of the devastating effects of the proposed budget cuts. “It’s going to affect the care we give the patients, especially the elderly and some of the homeless,” said Michele Wilson, a Respiratory Therapist and member of Local 768.

Management backed up her position. “They shouldn’t be picking on long-term care facilities. We’re a necessity in New York City,” said Claude Ritman, executive director of Coler-Goldwater. “We need to educate elected officials on the impact of these proposed cuts, especially as they affect the aging baby boomers who will be needing care soon.”

Anita L. Thompson, Local 420 chapter chair, knows how previous budget cuts hurt services. “Patients here used to go out on field trips every week, trips like basketball games and the circus. Those trips have been cut back,” she said.

“Recreation is a major factor in long-term care,” said Margaret Lopes, a member of Social Service Employees Local 371 and a Supervisor of Children’s Counseling. Most of her patients are confined to wheelchairs.

HHC nursing homes would also be hit hard by the proposed cuts. Brooklyn’s Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Nursing and Rehabilitation Center serves 298 patients daily and would lose $424,000, while Staten Island’s only public nursing home, Sea View Hospital Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, serves 298 patients daily and would lose $387,000.

Labor, community groups and health care advocates are fighting back. More than 100 organizations, including DC 37, have come together to form a statewide coalition, Medicaid Matters New York. Their mission is to speak out for the work force in Albany and Washington and to give a voice to low-income New Yorkers who depend on Medicaid.

“We cannot allow Governor Pataki to take out his scalpel and perform radical surgery on our public hospitals,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “These cuts would undermine the progress made at hospitals that have been rated among the best in the nation. Years of hard work and dedicated service by DC 37 members helped to make our public hospitals successful. Now all that hard work is being jeopardized.”