President Donohue, CSEA Activists Slam Commission Report

CSEA activist from around the state immediately began rallying and lobbying their legislators about the devastating impact that this report would have on health care in their area and patients who need care.

CSEA President Danny Donohue slammed the report and called for the legislature to protect these public health care facilities that provide safety net services and serve those who are uninsured and underinsured.

A New Congress in Washington

With the Democrats taking control of both houses of Congress in Washington, CSEA and AFSCME are stepping up its lobbying efforts for a pro-worker agenda over the next couple of months.  Increasing health care and education funding for New York State, protecting and enforcing worksite safety and removing unfair barriers that stop workers from joining unions are among the top priorities.

Hospital Closure Commission Update

The hospital and nursing home closure commission, also called the Berger Commission, released its report in December 2006 and slammed public health care facilities.  The report called for the privatization of SUNY Upstate Medical Center and a study of privatizing the SUNY hospitals in Brooklyn and Stony Brook.

The report also called for the merger of the Erie County Medical Center and the Van Duyn Nursing Home with private sector entities.  The report did not address how to expand health care to those in need, reduce overall health care costs to help dislocated health care workers find new work.

The Fight to Save Public Health Care Continues

Thanks to CSEA lobbying the state legislature has already indicated that many of the proposals, including ECMC, SUNY and Van Duyn, need to be changed legislatively to protect the vital health care services in those areas.

Also, several lawsuits have been filed which have the potential to delay implementation of the overall report for years.  One lawsuit has resulted in a temporary injunction, which has stopped implementation of the Berger report.

CSEA will continue to lobby the health officials of the Spitzer administration who will have a tremendous amount of influence over how this report gets implemented.