Please join Brooklyn For Peace and friends at A Rally To Save SUNY Downstate Medical Center Thursday May 9th, 4:15 pm
Location and directions at bottom of post.
As you might know, the combined forces of labor and community have won an important victory at LICH (Long Island College Hospital). The board of directors of SUNY, which controls LICH, has backed off its plans to close the hospital. But even with the victory at LICH the threat is far from over. LICH is part of SUNY DOWNSTATE Medical Center.
For over a year New York State and Governor Cuomo have been threatening Downstate Medical Center with cuts, layoffs and ultimately privatization or complete closure. That issue continues, unabated. The closure or takeover of SUNY DOWNSTATE Medical Center by a for-profit entity would rob the community of necessary health care services, create more unemployment and poverty and have a negative impact on the world famous medical school which is associated with the hospital. Here’s what’s at stake:
- The closure or privatization of University Hospital will put thousands of dedicated employees out of work in an area with an already high unemployment rate. Brooklyn’s economy would be devastated and thousands of people would be in jeopardy of losing their homes to foreclosure.
- Hundreds of thousands of patients, many of them with little or no means to pay for medical coverage, depend on SUNY public hospitals for health care services. As a state hospital, Downstate — and facilities in Stony Brook and Syracuse — accept all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
Brooklyn For Peace supports the maintenance and full-funding of SUNY DOWNSTATE Medical Center. In fact, we believe, if anything, it should be expanded, thus enhancing its important service to a huge section of Brooklyn residents. The cutbacks should be restored, layed-off workers rehired and Downstate’s future guaranteed by adequate state financing. The Governor must stop looking at health care as a business to be closed if its not producing a profit. Instead, he should accept the notion, finally and forever, that health care is a basic human right that government must ensure!
Brooklyn For Peace strives to connect the fight against hospital closings (in this, the richest country on earth!) with the misguided priorities in Congress which lavishes huge amounts of money on the Pentagon, the military-industrial complex that profits on war and the two endless wars that have cost our country trillions. In addition we believe Governor Cuomo, New York State and the Federal government must enact fair taxation that forces the super-wealthy and the large corporations to pay their share of taxes. By shifting priorities away from war spending and toward meeting the needs of our people and by enacting fair taxation, state and federal government will be able to adequately fund and expand urgently needed health services for our people.
Please join hundreds of Brooklyn Clergy, residents, patients and Downstate workers at a RALLY TO DEFEND SUNY DOWNSTATE
THURSDAY, MAY 9th, ** 4:15 pm: Interfaith Service at Mt. Zion Church of God, 203 E 27 St, Brooklyn [MAP] (Betw. Church Ave and Linden Blvd) SUBWAY:No. 2 to Church Avenue Station.
Then March to Downstate for rally at 5pm ** 5 pm: Rally at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 470 Clarkson Ave [MAP]
To download a flyer to promote the event, please CLICK HERE.
