The Brooklyn Hospital Center must contribute to nurses’ health funds, write nurse Jean Wells and Assembly Member Phara Souffrant-Forrest (left.)
File photo by Stefano Giovanni/Courtesy of Phara Souffrant-Forrest
It has now been 40 days, and nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center still do not have health coverage. This is 40 days far too long, and for many of us, every day that goes by puts the health and safety of nurses, our family members, and our Brooklyn community at risk.
Jean Wells: I’m a nurse in the post-anesthesia care unit and have given nearly three decades of my career to this hospital. Although I’ve long expected to retire here, I’m now struggling to see any future at this hospital as its management puts my husband’s life at risk. Nearly a year ago, he had a kidney transplant that saved his life but requires lifelong care. He needs monthly anti-rejection medications, regular checkups, and, given his suppressed immune system, protection from other illnesses. For us, and many others who have delayed chemotherapy visits, pediatrician visits, and more, health coverage is non-negotiable.
As nurses who work in safety-net hospitals, we understand the importance of hospitals like The Brooklyn Hospital Center and the resources it provides to our communities. We care about this hospital deeply and take our patients’ care very seriously. However, hospital management has shown that it does not care about nurses in the same way. We fought hard with union siblings and secured contracts earlier this year that secured our benefits. Despite signing a contract that promises our health coverage, The Brooklyn Hospital Center’s management has refused to contribute to our health funds since October 2025, resulting in all nurses across the hospital losing their health coverage. These cuts have not impacted executive leadership, nor others on staff. While the hospital has offered a lack of funds as an excuse, these cuts have unfairly impacted the frontline staff who need coverage most.
The Brooklyn Hospital Center can afford to pay for nurses’ health benefits. Unlike many safety net hospitals, The Brooklyn Hospital Center pays its executive leadership exorbitant salaries. While nurses remain without healthcare, executives continue to rake in more than $8 million annually. In 2024, CEO Gary Terrinoni brought in nearly $2 million in executive pay. Terrinoni owns a luxury condo in Brooklyn, a mansion in Pennsylvania and a house in a golf and beach resort community in Delaware. There is no reason why the CEO of a safety-net hospital should be living large while the frontline nurses who care for this community are forced to sacrifice our own health in order to care for our patients.
Phara Souffrant Forrest, RN: As a nurse and an elected official representing Brooklyn, I have stood shoulder to shoulder with the nurses in their recent fight for fair contracts throughout the city. I have met with nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center who expressed concerns about maintaining their benefits and decent working standards in a struggling safety net hospital. That’s why I was one of the elected officials who worked hard to secure funding from New York state to restore frontline nurses’ health benefits and stabilize hospital funding. This Hospital plays a valuable role in caring for our Brooklyn communities, and its the nurses who deliver this care. However, nurses have still not seen their coverage reinstated, nor have they been given a timeline for when this would happen. In all my years of experience fighting for fair hospital funding and supporting Brooklyn’s safety net hospitals, I’ve never seen this level of disregard for nurses and the complete lack of urgency or transparency from hospital leadership in the face of a crisis like this.
Over the past several weeks, they have received millions of dollars from New York state, more than enough to pay their bills, but have yet to fully pay their nurses’ health coverage. Instead of paying to reinstate health coverage, The Brooklyn Hospital Center has offered band aid solutions like telling nurses to pay for the wildly expensive COBRA or find their own insurance. You would think that a medical institution that provides care would prioritize its employees’ coverage more than most employers. Instead, hospital management has completely and callously ignored nurses’ calls.
Having health benefits for frontline healthcare workers should be the bare minimum. Nurses’ jobs are physically demanding, and we expose ourselves to deadly illnesses every day. Nurses make a hospital run. We need good health benefits just to make sure we can continue to come to work and come into contact with sick patients and know we are safe. We honor the commitment of The Brooklyn Hospital Center nurses who continue to come to work every day and care for patients without health coverage. They deliver babies, stabilize emergencies, and protect our Brooklyn community. However, nurses are only willing to take so much and are demanding the immediate reinstatement of health benefits. Nurses should never have to choose between our own health and our deep commitment to caring for Brooklyn.
It’s time for the executive leadership at The Brooklyn Hospital Center to care for nurses and the community they serve. New York is facing its own budget issues and needs to use its resources responsibly—and that includes ensuring hospital executives use their resources responsibly, too. Funding nurses’ health benefits so they can continue delivering care to Brooklyn is the right thing to do.