ALBANY - The Legislature took the first step Thursday toward trying to undo the statewide hospital closings they helped set into motion last year.
But Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he intends to make sure the recommendations made by an independent commission stick. The so-called Berger Commission was created by the Legislature to avoid the politically dicey decisions to overhaul New York's costly health care system, including closing hospitals that are some communities' biggest employers run by powerful local figures.
“Those recommendations have to be implemented and, as I said, the way they are implemented is being negotiated by the Department of Health and hopefully will be sensitive to the needs in the communities,” Spitzer said.
The recommendations were made before he took office Jan. 1, but they fit his plan to cut health costs, enhance better and less expensive outpatient care, and close underused hospitals.
“Those recommendations are law,” he said. “There should be no ambiguity.”
Still, the state Senate on Thursday unanimously supported a bill that would exempt a small, women-only hospital in Schenectady County from closing under the recommendations of the New York State Commission on Health Facilities in the 21st Century, known as the Berger Commission.
But lawmakers supported the Bellevue Women's Hospital, at least in part, because many of them want to stop closings in their own districts.
“The Berger Commission made many, many, many errors,” said state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., a Bronx Democrat. “Throw it in the garbage where it belongs.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Wednesday that he, too, wants to “modify Berger.”
On Nov. 28, the commission recommended closing nine hospitals and seven nursing homes statewide by mid-2008 and the merging or downsizing of dozens more. The commission's plan eliminated 4,200 hospital beds - about 7 percent statewide.
Of the nine hospitals, one is Bellevue, two are in western New York, one is in the lower Hudson Valley and the rest are in New York City. The panel said about 6,400 people work in the hospitals and nursing homes recommended for closing.
The commission's recommendations automatically became law Jan. 1 in the absence of any disapproval by the legislature, Bezanson said.
More than a dozen lawsuits opposing the closings and mergers have been filed. On June 1, a state appeals court was asked to declare that the state commission acted illegally.
“Those recommendations have to be implemented and, as I said, the way they are implemented is being negotiated by the Department of Health and hopefully will be sensitive to the needs in the communities,” Spitzer said.
The recommendations were made before he took office Jan. 1, but they fit his plan to cut health costs, enhance better and less expensive outpatient care, and close underused hospitals.
“Those recommendations are law,” he said. “There should be no ambiguity.”
Still, the state Senate on Thursday unanimously supported a bill that would exempt a small, women-only hospital in Schenectady County from closing under the recommendations of the New York State Commission on Health Facilities in the 21st Century, known as the Berger Commission.
But lawmakers supported the Bellevue Women's Hospital, at least in part, because many of them want to stop closings in their own districts.
“The Berger Commission made many, many, many errors,” said state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., a Bronx Democrat. “Throw it in the garbage where it belongs.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Wednesday that he, too, wants to “modify Berger.”
On Nov. 28, the commission recommended closing nine hospitals and seven nursing homes statewide by mid-2008 and the merging or downsizing of dozens more. The commission's plan eliminated 4,200 hospital beds - about 7 percent statewide.
Of the nine hospitals, one is Bellevue, two are in western New York, one is in the lower Hudson Valley and the rest are in New York City. The panel said about 6,400 people work in the hospitals and nursing homes recommended for closing.
The commission's recommendations automatically became law Jan. 1 in the absence of any disapproval by the legislature, Bezanson said.
More than a dozen lawsuits opposing the closings and mergers have been filed. On June 1, a state appeals court was asked to declare that the state commission acted illegally.
The Citizens' Say
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