have to be looking to using existing facilities if you’re going to have reduced admissions.”
At a recent budget hearing, state Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson said $300 million was directed to Oneida County because providers there requested funding to replace antiquated facilities with a modern alternative that had fewer inpatient beds. He also said the government was still tweaking its definition of rural, but intended to spend the $400 million assisting providers in non-urban settings whose debt threatened their existence.
Executive Deputy Health Commissioner Sally Dreslin said federally-qualified health centers— nonprofits that provide comprehensive primary care in underserved areas— would have the opportunity to seek a share of the money and it was not necessarily limited to hospitals. She said a nonprofit might even be able to partner with a larger Brooklyn hospital project.
Stephen Berger, who chaired a 2005 state commission charged with reviewing the changing health care delivery system, said replacing aging Brooklyn hospitals with streamlined, modern alternatives would be wise.
In 2011, a state-commissioned report recommended closing 1,235 hospital beds in Brooklyn because many were vacant and others could be emptied by using more robust primary and preventive care to drive down the borough’s high rates of preventable hospitalizations and emergency room visits.
Berger, the report’s author, argued that there was nothing contradictory about Cuomo’s approach and that investing the money to replace Brookdale’s aging facility would make sense.
“You have a whole bunch of hospitals that are really in terrible shape, and you really should wave a wand and make them go away,” Berger said. “You could easily take out two or three institutions in Brooklyn, replace them with one new acute care facility and network, and the quality of care would be immediately improved.”
MEDICAL MEASURES
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s spending proposal includes a number of healthcare measures.
Health Care Tax Cuomo calls for an annual premium averaging less than $25 per plan on coverage purchased inside and outside the NY State of Health insurance exchange.
Nixing Physician Profiles The governor estimates that discontinuing an online doctor directory, which he believes offers information publicly available elsewhere, will save $1.2 million.
Stop Resident Audits The executive’s plan would halt “duplicative” Department of Health audits of medical residents’ hours and recoup $1.1 million.
Emergency Food Funding The proposal seeks to increase financing for hunger prevention efforts to $34.5 million.
Water Fluoridation Grants The governor aims to offer $5 million in grants for installing and upgrading drinking water systems.
Heroin Prevention A $5 million investment is slated to address heroin and opiate addiction through treatment and prevention programs.