{"id":84164,"date":"2025-12-30T00:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/84164\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T00:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:42:11","slug":"hochuls-second-veto-of-lich-act-a-real-shame-says-simon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/84164\/","title":{"rendered":"Hochul\u2019s second veto of LICH Act a \u2018real shame\u2019 says Simon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The now-demolished Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle<\/p>\n

ALBANY \u2014 Gov. Kathy Hochul on Dec. 19 vetoed the \u201cLocal Input for Community Healthcare Act,\u201d\u00a0 better known to Brooklynites as the LICH Act<\/a>, named in honor of Cobble Hill\u2019s now-shuttered Long Island College Hospital.<\/p>\n

The veto \u2014 the second by Hochul \u2014 dismayed Brooklyn Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, who has been working to pass the legislation for a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simon, who represents the area once served by LICH<\/a> \u2014 including Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Downtown and Brooklyn Heights \u2014 first introduced the bill with former state Sen. Daniel Squadron in 2015. Senate co-sponsor in 2024 and 2025 was state Sen. Gustavo Rivera of the Bronx, chair of the Senate Health Committee.<\/p>\n

The bill is meant to ensure that what happened to LICH won\u2019t play out at other hospitals across New York.<\/p>\n

\"HealthHealth care workers and community members rallied to save Long Island College Hospital in July 2013. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle<\/p>\n

LICH closure inflamed Western Brooklyn<\/p>\n

The 155-year-old LICH had been stripped of its assets, closed and sold to a developer by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014 amid protests, arrests, lawsuits and allegations of financial misrepresentations on the part of the State University of New York. (The Brooklyn Eagle provided in-depth coverage<\/a> of these events.)<\/p>\n

The hospital closure inflamed communities from Brooklyn Heights to Red Hook. Simon, a district leader at the time, was one of numerous elected officials, residents and health care workers arrested during acts of civil disobedience. (Others arrested included then-Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, then-Councilmember Brad Lander and Rep. Nydia Velazquez. Simon and Velazquez were arrested as part of a human chain blocking traffic across Atlantic Avenue.) Attorney Jim Walden, a mayoral candidate in 2025, donated his legal services to LICH advocates pro bono in a long-running lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, LICH was sold to the developer Fortis Property Group for $240 million in a troubled RFP process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, NYU Langone opened an ambulatory care center and emergency department at the site of a main LICH building at 70 Atlantic Ave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AssemblymemberAssemblymember Jo Anne Simon (center) and other advocates gathered in Albany in 2024 to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the LICH Act. They were unsuccessful. Photo: Office of Jo Anne Simon<\/p>\n

Shuttering hospitals \u2018should not happen behind closed doors\u2019<\/p>\n

Before a planned hospital or unit closure, the LICH Act would require advance notice to local officials and the public; a community forum 150 days in advance of the proposed closure date; a final closure plan that addresses concerns raised at the forum; and public disclosure of all submitted plans by the Department of Health. The act has passed the legislature twice so far with bipartisan support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real shame that the Governor vetoed this bill,\u201d Simon said in a release. \u201cHospitals are closing with very little state oversight or community input, leaving vulnerable communities with reduced access to essential healthcare. When a hospital or unit closes, it is more than a building shutting down \u2013 it is cutting off a lifeline, and these decisions should not happen behind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Then-CouncilmemberThen-Councilmember Brad Lander was arrested with others in July 2013 following a protest to save Long Island College Hospital. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle<\/p>\n

Currently, the state Health Department relies entirely upon the analysis of the hospitals seeking to close before it makes its decision, \u201cwhile communities and healthcare professionals have little to no opportunity to correct the record,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n

More than 70 hospitals in New York are currently at risk of closure due to upcoming federal cuts, she said. \u201cWith the Trump administration putting a torch to New Yorkers\u2019 healthcare, the state should be creating more avenues to improve our communities\u2019 access to healthcare, not limit it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot continue to make closure decisions behind closed doors without assessing the impacts on the overall system, vulnerable patient communities and healthcare workers,\u201d Rivera said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AssemblymemberAssemblymember Jo Anne Simon introduced the LICH Act with former state Sen. Daniel Squadron (at podium) in 2015. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle<\/p>\n

Hochul: Doesn\u2019t reflect \u2018financial realities\u2019<\/p>\n

In a written explanation of her veto, Hochul said that the bill would require 270 days prior notice to affected stakeholders before closing an entire hospital, and 210 days for the closure of a unit. \u201cThis legislation does not appropriately reflect the financial realities that struggling hospitals face, which are only expected to increase under the current federal administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul said that she directed the state Department of Health last year to develop and propose reforms to the hospital closure process. The DOH \u201cexamined their current guidance, identified improvements, updated the guidance and circulated it to hospitals in December,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n

\"Then-PublicThen-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio was arrested at a LICH protest in July 2013. Photo courtesy of the Office of Bill de Blasio<\/p>\n

Simon counters that the state guidance \u201cwas only recently issued and is woefully inadequate as it only addresses the closure of hospital and certain units.\u201d DOH\u2019s new guidance does little to protect New Yorkers from the current \u201copaque\u201d hospital closure process, and state legislation is necessary because agency guidance is less enforceable than regulations or statutes.<\/p>\n

Despite the veto, Rivera said he was committed to working with the governor and stakeholders \u201cto meet our responsibility to ensure local residents and hospital workers have a voice in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"LICH
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSimon\u2019s LICH Act to reform hospital closures passes in Assembly, again<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 13 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMary Frost\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGov. Kathy Hochul vetoes LICH Act hospital closure bill<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 16 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMary Frost\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFortis vs. SUNY lawsuit over disastrous deal to develop LICH<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 6 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMary Frost\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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