Brooklyn Needs Downstate Rally!

SUNY's plan to make drastic changes in the structure and operation of the public teaching hospital at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University would relegate this safety net hospital to a wing in Kings County Hospital Center. In addition, other health care services currently performed by Downstate would be farmed out to other neighboring hospitals.

The implementation of this plan will unequivocally result in the closure of SUNY Downstate. If there is no building, there is no hospital. This ill-conceived plan will undermine the Central Brooklyn hospital's central mission and harm the Brooklyn communities it serves.

As a public teaching hospital, Downstate treats all patients who walk through its doors, including patients without insurance or who are unable to pay for care, making it a crucial resource to Brooklyn residents. It predominantly serves people of color, low income, uninsured, underinsured, undocumented and at-risk individuals who have limited access to affordable health care. These patients are more prone to suffer from serious disease and face higher morbidity rates than other patients across our city and state.

On Thursday, February 29th at 12pm come rally with UUP, NYSNA, PEF, AFT and NYSUT to save Downstate! At SUNY Downstate, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203. Click here to RSVP, and visit the Brooklyn Needs Downstate campaign webpage for more actions and information by going to: uupinfo.org/BrooklynNeedsDownstate/.