Hospitals should remain open

Last week, the state Commission on Healthcare Facilities in the 21st century released its devastating report recommending hospital and nursing home closures and mergers throughout New York.

The report's recommendations reflect a purely political, last-ditch effort by Gov. George E. Pataki to accomplish what he could not before: his mistaken goal of making widespread cuts to New York's public health care system. The recommendations, issued just weeks before lame-duck Pataki is set to leave office, would mean huge cuts and privatization proposals for New York's public hospitals and nursing homes. These facilities are a safety net and the last resort for our elderly. Erie County Medical Center is the region's Level 1 Trauma Center. These and other essential services must not be jeopardized.

The report also does little to address the thousands of jobs - both public and private - that would be lost as a result of these cuts. It's no secret that good paying jobs here are scarce. We simply cannot afford to drop such a bomb on the local workforce.

CSEA, whose membership includes 65,000 healthcare workers in New York State, opposes the recommendations in this report. I personally am appalled that in his last days in office, Pataki would try to sneak these cuts past New Yorkers.

What's worse is that the report has been issued at a time when our state legislators are not in session. They have mere days to review, study and consider the implications of the report. If our legislators do not vote on this report by Dec. 31, it will automatically go into effect. Please contact your local Senate and Assembly members and ask that they vote "no" on the commission's report. More time is needed to consider the sweeping recommendations and to make responsible decisions as to the best way to fix New York's broken health care.

Florence Tripi Region President

CSEA