To get Gov. Cuomo’s attention, nonstop rallies for LICH
In an attempt to snag the attention of a curiously silent Governor Andrew Cuomo, supporters of Long Island College Hospital (LICH) have been holding rallies on a regular basis since financially troubled SUNY Downstate announced its intention to shut the Cobble Hill hospital down.
Babies in strollers have been marched down Court Street, where shop windows are plastered with signs asking, “Where’s Cuomo?” State Senators, Assemblypersons and City Council members – bullhorns in hand — have led marches down Hicks Street; and doctors, nurses and staff have held numerous rallies across Brooklyn and in Albany.
In spite of a court order to keep LICH staff levels up, Downstate has closed down LICH’s intensive care units, maternity and surgical wards and banned ambulances from delivering patients to the ER. The rallies have only increased in frequency and intensity.
At a rally at LICH on Sunday, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio called on Governor Cuomo to intervene on behalf of LICH and another threatened Brooklyn hospital, Interfaith Medical Center.