State eyes closure of SUNY Downstate hospital in Brooklyn: report
NY Post
The state is reportedly planning to dramatically downsize or even close SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
The Big Apple’s only state-run medical hospital has been plagued by low patient enrollment, annual operating deficits of about $100 million and a deteriorating hospital building – information administrators shared this week with staff doctors, the New York Times reported Saturday.
The East Flatbush medical center is across the street from city-run Kings County Hospital, so the changes would not leave central Brooklyn without a hospital.
However, SUNY Downstate provides specialized care Kings County does not, including the borough’s only kidney transplant program. Hospital administrators have expressed uncertainty about that program’s future.
SUNY Chancellor John King Jr. told the Times the state’s plan includes transferring inpatient care at Downstate to other Brooklyn hospitals – with the best option moving as much as possible to Kings County.
The plan would, in effect, create “a SUNY Downstate wing at Kings County” with perhaps 150 beds, King said.
