Cuomo, de Blasio Seek U.S. Aid for Ailing Brooklyn Hospitals
January 28, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who have clashed over tactics to rescue financially teetering nonprofit hospitals in Brooklyn, joined forces Monday to call for $10-billion federal infusion to keep the ailing facilities from closing, writes The Wall Street Journal.
At their first joint news conference since Mr. de Blasio took office at the start of the year, the leaders said they would use money potentially freed up by adjusting state and federal Medicaid funding arrangements to transform Interfaith Medical Center, Brookdale Medical Center, and Long Island College Hospital, or LICH, improving outpatient services and making them less reliant on costly hospital-based care.
Mr. de Blasio made the Brooklyn facilities’ travails a key issue in his mayoral campaign last year and was arrested in July at a demonstration against LICH owner SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s plans to sell the hospital, leading a Cuomo spokeswoman to accuse him of “political gimmicks.”
