Contact Governor Cuomo - DEMAND LICH BE SAVED

The Cobble Hill Association continues its fight to save our local institution, Long Island College Hospital, and now sends the below note to all concerned about the fate of our community's health.

Dear Neighbors,

We are at a critical time in the life of Long Island College Hospital. Last week, SUNY Downstate announced its Sustainability Plan. Under the plan, Downstate will either close or sell LICH.

SUNY Downstate claims that seven suitors are interested in LICH, the result of an RFI (Request for Information) that SUNY issued last month. Sale of LICH to a professionally managed hospital organization would be a cause for celebration. After years of indifferent management, at best, documented in the NYS Controller's 2013 report, professional hospital management offers the best opportunity to operate a full-service hospital to serve residents from the Red Hook Houses to Dumbo as well as the area's thriving business and student population.

However, SUNY Downstate has failed to turn over the LICH financial records parties have requested. Moreover, SUNY Downstate has made representations about LICH finances that are simply not true. Without open books, potential suitors cannot evaluate LICH's economic viability -- and there is no assurance that the disposition of LICH will be a fair one. SUNY Downstate's actions have revived fears that its real goal is to sell the land to a real estate developer.

The Governor needs to take charge. So far, he has refused to meet with our local elected officials. We need to show Governor Cuomo that we expect him, as our elected representative, to act in the best interests of the western Brooklyn residential and business community.

Write to: The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224 
Call: (518) 474-8390

Email:  Use the link below today and next week and every week until this matter is resolved in the best interests of our community. 

For your convenience, the following message has been inserted in this email link to send to the Governor's office now. Just open, sign, and send:

Governor Cuomo, 
As a constituent, I urge you to develop a plan to save Long Island College Hospital so that it can provide needed health care for the fast-growing residential and business communities of western Brooklyn.

As Governor, you must act to insure (i) that the process is transparent, (ii) that Downstate makes current audited LICH financial records available to all interested parties, and (iii) that a 150-year-old teaching hospital is not summarily closed without a full assessment of the community's needs by the NYS Department of Health.