Officials with the nurses union told THE CITY that workers feel targeted by hospital administrators\u2019 decision not to pay into their health care fund. Nurses are the only hospital\u00a0 employees without coverage; doctors, administrative staff and other workers have been unaffected.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou chose the nurses, the one group of people that actually show up \u2014 rain, sun, sleet, snow,\u201d said Rehana Lowtan, a nurse educator who began her career at the hospital 20 years ago. \u201cWe have nurses here that have serious medical conditions. They have families that are on their plans that don\u2019t have access to any kind of care right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The nurses who spoke to THE CITY said they do not know when, or if, coverage will be reinstated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/031225_brooklyn_hospital_center.jpg\")
The Brooklyn Hospital Center sits at the intersection of Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn, March 12, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no communication,\u201d said Yvette Byer-Henry, a certified nurse midwife who has worked at the hospital for 25 years. \u201cIt just reeks.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the hospital, Zack Fink, said the facility is \u201cworking closely with NYSNA and the Hochul administration on a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Brooklyn Hospital Center values our NYSNA represented nurses and recognizes that medical benefits are an essential part of supporting our colleagues and their families. The immediate issue is securing the funds necessary to continue covering those medical benefits,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The hospital has requested additional money from the state on top of the $74 million it received in 2025<\/a>. The plea for help comes as the facility considers bankruptcy, the hospital\u2019s chief executive Gary G. Terranoni, told Spectrum News in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bill Hammond, a senior fellow for health policy at the Albany-based think tank the Empire Center, called the hospital\u2019s failure to pay nurses\u2019 benefits \u201ca move of desperation\u201d that could show the governor it needs the requested aid.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would communicate to the state we are in deep trouble, and it would turn the nurses into your allies for pushing the state for money,\u201d he said. \u201cIf that is their strategy that would be using them as a bargaining chip.\u201d<\/p>\n The State and the Safety Net<\/p>\n Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-Brooklyn), said the reality of safety net hospitals necessitates state aid, explaining that Medicaid reimburses the hospital below the cost of its care.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe reimbursement rates are not on par with the care that is being given,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, the responsibility rests with the state that hospitals like Brooklyn Hospital Center should be made whole,\u201d added Souffrant Forrest, who has worked as a nurse. \u201cUnfortunately, the governor is trickling in funding. She did make the choice not to include increases in safety net funding overall in last year\u2019s budget.\u201d<\/p>\n Hochul\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Brooklyn Hospital Center\u2019s nurses averted a strike<\/a> in January by coming to a tentative agreement on a labor contract with management. The terms included the hospital fully providing the nurses\u2019 health care and pension benefits.<\/p>\n The nurses, who said they were unaware that the hospital had not paid the benefits fund since November, accepted the contract. They are now legally prohibited from striking due to the contract agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they are in a financial crisis, [hospital officials] should not be making promises they can\u2019t keep,\u201d Hammond said.<\/p>\n Byer-Henry told THE CITY the hospital has failed to make monthly payments to the benefit fund in the past<\/a>, but this is the first time nurses have lost health care.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you made the decision to not pay one portion of your employees\u2019 benefit, what was your thinking going forward?\u201d Byer-Henry said. \u201cBecause you can\u2019t run a hospital without nurses \u2014 nurses are the backbone of the hospital.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Brooklyn Hospital Center is a safety net hospital and is not affiliated with large providers such as Mount Sinai Health System or Northwell Health.<\/p>\n Instead, its primary source of income is from its patients. About 80% are covered by Medicaid and Medicare, where the hospital receives its reimbursement and funding, according to a recent report<\/a> from the Healthcare Association of New York State.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Brooklyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/031226_brooklyn_hospital_center-nurse-2.jpg\")
Yvette Byer-Henry, pictured, has worked as a nurse at the Brooklyn Hospital Center for 25 years, March 12, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n