Brooklyn hospital crisis – LICH, Interfaith: Cuomo blames feds, de Blasio weighs in
-Hospitals dominate state, city and Brooklyn agenda on Tuesday
Brooklyn’s hospital crisis dominated New York’s political and legal process on Tuesday as judges considered the fates of teetering Interfaith Medical Center and Long Island College Hospital (LICH), Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the creation of a Brooklyn Health Authority, and Governor Andrew Cuomo blamed the federal government for not releasing the Medicaid Waiver funds that could save the borough’s threatened hospitals.
The day started with yet another protest, as supporters of both Interfaith and LICH, despite frigid temperatures, gathered on the steps of federal Bankruptcy Court in Downtown Brooklyn. Speaker after speaker called on Gov. Cuomo to act.
Sharonnie Perry, chairwoman of Interfaith Medical Center’s community advisory board, demanded that Cuomo to “do the right thing” and save Bedford-Stuyvesant’s only hospital.