April 3, 2025 — It has been one year since staff, doctors, nurses and students at SUNY Downstate joined with the Brooklyn community, PEF, UUP, and clergy leaders to strike back against a plan by the SUNY Chancellor to close the hospital and transfer its services across the street to Kings County Hospital. Thanks to the coalition’s efforts, Governor Kathy Hochul announced last summer she would instead bring the community together with an advisory board, charged with reimagining Brooklyn’s premiere public teaching hospital.
In Dec. 2024, the board began its work expecting to deliver recommendations to the Governor by April 1, 2025, following three community hearings. At the first public hearing on Jan. 22, members of the community expressed frustration with the short timeline, especially following such a long wait for the board to be named. It was a sentiment expressed by State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who represents the Brooklyn district that includes Downstate.
“We were promised a truly open public engagement process, an honest assessment of where we are, and real recommendations to improve services for patients in the community,” said Sen. Myrie. “We expect SUNY to live up to those promises.”
That message was heard by the Governor. The advisory board was told on March 6 that their deadline to submit a plan to Governor Hochul has been extended to June 1, 2025, though no additional hearings will be held. (The final hearing was March 13.)
Kara Fesolovich, a spokeswoman for the governor, said that after discussions with board members and local officials, the governor’s decision was made to ensure that board has enough time to bring a plan to the table that reflects the community’s voice.
“After decades of disinvestment at SUNY Downstate, Governor Hochul has committed nearly $1 billion to bring high-quality health care to residents in a modernized facility while protecting health care jobs,” said Fesolovich.
Though the push for an extended deadline is a win for advocates who believe in SUNY Downstate’s future, the fight for the hospital is still not over, as the community pushes for an additional investment of $250 million to fully revitalize the hospital.
PEF members can do their part to advocate for funding for SUNY Downstate and Upstate, in Syracuse, by sending a letter to your local legislators.