NYS lawmakers hike aid to NUMC to $50M, call closure claim 'complete fabrication'

ALBANY — State legislators on Tuesday increased an aid infusion to Nassau University Medical Center to $50 million, pledged it was the first of more aid to come and said claims about a shutdown are a "complete fabrication" driven by those interested in political patronage.

Meanwhile, NUMC officials held another rally asserting the state wants to shutter the hospital, which is Nassau's "safety net" facility for poor people. Yet the leader of the union that represents most hospital workers said he sees no threat of closure.

At issue is what to do about the financially troubled facility. Gov. Kathy Hochul, the State Senate and Assembly are trying this week to finalize a state budget agreement, which is expected to include a new board for NUMC, as Newsday first reported. The working plan would give Hochul and Democrats control of seven of the 11 board members, sources have told Newsday.

State officials on Monday said a $40 million infusion for capital improvements would be included. Tuesday morning, they said it had been increased to $50 million.

"We need to invest in NUMC and that’s just the first wave of aid," State Sen. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury) said. Nassau Health Care Corp., the entity that runs the hospital and also is known as NuHealth, is more than $500 million in debt and asked for a state bailout a year ago.

As Bynoe was speaking on the third floor of the State Capitol near the Senate chamber, NUMC CEO Meg Ryan was leading a rally on the second floor, reiterating her allegation that the state wants to shutter the hospital.

"We face an existential threat," Ryan told supporters.

"That’s absolutely untrue," Bynoe countered. "I can’t get into the mind of these people seeking to incite fear, but everything we have done is about creating guardrails to ensure NUMC continues to have a future."

The notion of closing NUMC is a "complete fabrication," Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) said, pushed by those concerned about political patronage.

"The only way to save NUMC is to remove it from political patronage" by changing its governing board, Lavine said. "The only way it closes is if we do nothing and doing nothing is not an option."

Democrats overwhelmingly outnumber Republicans in the State Legislature and control the Senate and Assembly agenda.

Jarvis Brown, Long Island regional president of the Civil Service Employees Association, which represents most hospital workers, said he sees no threat of closure.

 "In no way, shape or form, do we think they are trying to close the hospital," Brown told Newsday Tuesday. "If that was the case, we'd be all over it. Gov. Hochul has said nothing to make us believe our workers are in danger of being laid off or of NUMC not being NUMC."

At the Capitol rally, multiple Republican state legislators spoke to oppose a state takeover of the hospital board — but notably stopped short of saying the state wants to close the place.

State Sen. Steve Rhoads (R-Bellmore) cast doubt on the state’s ability to steward NUMC out of its financial hole.

"All our vital services are in jeopardy if there is a state takeover," Rhoads said. Repeating a claim NUMC has made against the state in a related lawsuit, he said: "New York State has deprived NUMC of state aid so a state takeover could be possible."

He called the $40 million promise a "drop in the bucket" of what NUMC needs.

Asked if closure was an actual possibility, Rhoads said: "The issue we see is [restructuring] could put it on a path toward closure. Obviously, it remains to be seen."

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy