Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoes LICH Act hospital closure bill

Simon, Rivera "bitterly disappointed"

December 16, 2024 Mary Frost

The former Long Island College Hospital, known as LICH. Photo: Mary Frost/Brooklyn Eagle

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Despite all-out efforts by Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (D-Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights) and other state officials, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday vetoed a bill aiming to reform the way the state closes hospitals.

Simon, co-sponsor of the LICH Act (Local Input in Community Health Care Act) with Gustavo Rivera, chair of the Senate Health Committee, has been working to pass the bill since 2015, following the chaotic closure and sale of Brooklyn’s Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Cobble Hill by SUNY Downstate in 2014.

Community members, officials and health care workers fought for two years against the state Department of Health under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to stop the state from selling the 156-year-old hospital. Its eventual loss to developer Fortis Property Group prompted Simon to create the LICH Act.

The now-vetoed bill would have required public notice and a public forum held 150 days in advance of the proposed closure when a hospital or critical units (such as maternity) seek to shut down, along with a final closure plan that addresses concerns raised at the community forum and public disclosure of all submitted plans by the Department of Health. The bill passed by wide margins in the state Senate and Assembly this past legislative session, for the first time ever.

In a Dec. 9 letter to Hochul, Simon and Rivera pointed out that under current regulations, a hospital just has to give 90 days notice to the state Department of Health before closing, and hold one meeting to explain the closure to the public. Concerns voiced by the public at such meetings “have failed to result in substantive changes,” the letter noted.

On Friday, before the governor’s veto was publicly announced, Simon alluded to pressure from hospital lobbyists. In a post on Instagram she wrote, “Hospital lobbyists claim the LICH bill’s hospital closure process ‘could paralyze health transformation efforts.’ Hogwash. Are hospitals saying they don’t analyze the impacts of closures at all? Maybe speed, not impacts to care, is what matters?”

On Monday, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (center) and state Sen. Gustavo Rivera gathered with fellow officials, advocates and union reps on the famous ‘Million Dollar Staircase’ in the state capitol to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the LICH Act before the looming deadline. Photo: Office of Jo Anne Simon — On Dec. 9, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (center) and state Sen. Gustavo Rivera gathered with fellow officials, advocates and union reps on the famous “Million Dollar Staircase” in the state capitol to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the LICH Act before the looming deadline. Photo: Office of Jo Anne Simon

‘Financial reality’

Hochul stated in her veto memo that under the LICH Act the closure of an entire hospital would require “at least 270 days prior notice to the Department of Health, providers, labor unions, local, state and federal legislative representatives, and other parties,” and the closure of a unit would take at least 210 days.

She acknowledged that hospital closures impact their communities and staffs, and greater transparency in the process would be beneficial. “But this bill does not appropriately balance that goal against the financial reality that struggling hospitals face and changes in health care service delivery. Therefore, I am constrained to veto this bill, but I am directing the Department of Health to develop and propose reforms to the hospital closure process.”

Bitter disappointment

Simon and Rivera said in a joint statement Monday that they were bitterly disappointed. They also countered Hochul’s reasoning, saying that the LICH Act does not prevent hospital closures, but reforms the process for closures — and already has provisions to allow the state Health Department to “fast-track” the closure process in many circumstances, including financial crisis.
“Health care facilities all across the state are closing without any real input from the communities they serve, leaving already-vulnerable communities without essential care,” Rivera said. “It is now imperative that the State Department of Health follows the Governor’s directive and make the necessary changes to ensure that transparency and public engagement are at the core of the hospital closure process, and we will not stop there.”

“Past hospital closures have left communities struggling with reduced access to health care and longer emergency response times,” Simon said. “These decisions should not happen behind closed doors where there is no chance of saving the hospital or unit, or even planning for the community’s future access to health care. When a hospital closes, it’s more than a building shutting down—it’s cutting off a lifeline.”

There is growing concern about the potential closures of Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan and SUNY Downstate’s University Hospital in Brooklyn, along with numerous upstate rural hospitals and units, Simon said in a release last week.

United University Professionals President Frederick E. Kowal called Hochul’s veto unfortunate. The bill “would have given a strong voice to communities impacted by the closure of a hospital serving their neighborhoods well before the hospital’s planned closure date,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

“As we saw earlier this year, a poorly crafted plan to close Brooklyn’s Downstate University Hospital — forged behind closed doors without community input — was overwhelmingly rejected by the community and health professionals at [SUNY] Downstate. Communities must have a formalized say in any discussions concerning health care being curtailed or eliminated.”

Simon and Rivera said they would continue to work together to reintroduce the bill in the upcoming session.