
Stakeholders say SUNY Downstate advisory board is ‘meeting behind closed doors’

ALBANY —BROOKLYN RELIGIOUS LEADERS, state legislators and union leaders met in Albany on Tuesday to demand that the Downstate Community Advisory Board open its meetings to the public and schedule more public hearings before an April 1 deadline to recommend a plan for financially-troubled SUNY Downstate University Hospital. The advisory board, appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to gather public input before submitting its report, is “meeting behind closed doors and not providing nearly enough opportunities for community members to provide insight and data,” a coalition including United University Professors said in a release. The board may need to push back its April 1 deadline to give the community more time to consider a plan called Brooklyn for Downstate, which would upgrade and modernize the teaching hospital, stakeholders said.
Speakers included state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, state Assemblymembers Brian Cunningham and Phara Souffrant Forrest, Public Employees Federation President Wayne D. Spence, UUP President Frederick E. Kowal, NYSUT President Melinda Person and local religious leaders.
“Brooklyn needs and deserves an upgraded, expanded and modernized hospital. We expect nothing less,” said Bishop Orlando Findlayter, senior pastor at New Hope Christian Fellowship. Video of the press conference will be posted on the NYS PEF Vimeo page late Tuesday afternoon.
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