SUNY Downstate: a model for the fights ahead BROOKLYN — The struggle to save jobs and services at SUNY Downstate Medical Center has largely been the work of the dynamic SUNY Downstate Coalition of Faith, Labor and Community, comprising of Brooklyn-area religious and community organizations and unions representing SUNY Downstate employees. Faced with constant threats of closure or layoffs, coalition leaders have actively called on state elected officials to stop any further downsizing or outsourcing plans that would erode the health care services Downstate provides to residents of Central Brooklyn. “As a pastor in the East Flatbush community, I am proud to stand with workers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center to demand that the state of New York do everything possible to keep Downstate open,” said Bishop Orlando Findlayter, senior pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship. “This institution provides services that are crucial to the health and prosperity of the residents.” “The work we’ve been able to perform as a coalition has been extraordinary.” “Extraordinary” work And while at least two other Brooklyn hospitals, Long Island College Hospital, operated by SUNY Downstate, and Interfaith Medical Center, face possible closure, for the time being at least, SUNY Downstate is off the chopping block. “The work we’ve been able to perform as a coalition has been extraordinary,” said CSEA Metropolitan Region President Lester Crockett. “The rallies, the meetings, the lobby visits have been powerful and productive because the entire community is involved in this effort.” Despite the hard work of the coalition, more than 200 SUNY Downstate employees recently lost their jobs. Most were represented by United University Professions (UUP). “Every job we lose has an impact on the community,” said SUNY Downstate Local President Althea Green. “We are saddened to see those workers go because we know that also translates to fewer services for the community.” Vital services Downstate provides care to nearly 400,000 patients each year, many of them requiring the specialized inpatient and outpatient treatment only offered at the medical center. In addition, as a state hospital, Downstate must provide treatment to everyone, whether or not they have insurance and regardless of their ability to pay. Cutting vital health care services at Downstate would reduce the quality and accessibility of health care for hundreds of thousands of patients, many of whom are underinsured or uninsured, and many more who are aged or very sick. Important to community SUNY Downstate is a critical component to the Brooklyn Bishop Orlando Findlayter, front row, center, leads a group of CSEA and community activists in a rally to save SUNY Downstate last year, including CSEA President Danny Donohue, Metropolitan Region President Lester Crockett (partially hidden) and Statewide Secretary Denise Berkley, all fourth row, center, and SUNY Downstate Local President Althea Green, second row, second from right. The Rev. Al Sharpton is in the front row, far right. economy. SUNY has 8,000 employees, making it the fourth largest employer in the borough. Sixty percent live in Brooklyn, and 86 percent live in the five boroughs. These employees create more than $2 billion in economic activity annually, leading to a $12 return on investment for every $1 that the state invests in SUNY Downstate. The impact on the pipeline for future health care professionals must also be taken into account. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals are trained at Downstate’s schools each year. More Downstate-trained doctors practice medicine in New York City than from any other medical school. One in every three doctors in Brooklyn graduated from SUNY Downstate. More than half of Brooklyn’s doctors in certain specialties have been trained at the center. — David Galarza • SUNY Downstate employs 8,000 workers and is the fourth largest employer in Brooklyn. • 60 percent of these workers live in Brooklyn, and 86 percent of the workers live within New York City’s five boroughs. • SUNY Downstate employees generate more than $2 billion in economic activity each year — a $12 return on investment for every $1 the state invests in SUNY Downstate. • The majority of medical professional who train at SUNY Downstate’s schools practice in New York City. January 2014 The Work Force 9
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