Sears: Hospitals Only Part Of Picture; Look At Community’s Other Needs
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Sears, in her testimony said, “There is no question that health care in New York City has reached a crisis point. ..”

City Councilmember Helen Sears, chair of the council Hospital Closing Task Force, told the Berger Commission recently that its recommendation to close five hospitals in New York City fails to prescribe alternatives to provide ways to deliver health services to communities in the future.

She acknowledged, however, that the commission also made a number of important recommendations.

Sears said in her testimony to the commission that the council task force set as its “first and most powerful” recommendation to the Berger Commission: “Treat New York City as a city of boroughs and communities, and recognize the subtlety and texture of our city’s neighborhoods.”

She added: “The health care and delivery system must be flexible and responsive to community needs.”

Sears (D) directed the same advice to state officials. She declared: “The state legislature and Governor–elect Eliot Spitzer should adopt the system-wide viewpoint of the city council’s report and have the courage to advocate for major changes in the healthcare system that are beyond its mandate.”

The council Task Force on Hospital Closings issued its final report in November entitled, “A Prescription for New York City’s Health Care Crisis.” The report articulated “a new vision for healthcare delivery based on the principles of financial stability, rational planning and primary care and universal planning”, Sears stated.

Sears, in her testimony said, “There is no question that health care in New York City has reached a crisis point. Healthcare costs are spiraling out of control, millions of New Yorkers are uninsured and too many of our communities lack adequate healthcare services.”

The Jackson Heights lawmaker said one manifestation of this crisis is the “ongoing financial instability of our acute care hospitals”.

Directing her remarks to the Berger Commission’s recommendation to close five hospitals in the city, she stated: “While I recognize the vital necessity of restructuring the healthcare system, it is important also to develop a plan at the same time to preserve needed services in affected communities. I am not satisfied that the Berger Commission’s report is specific enough in identifying alternative service delivery methods. The Commission’s report fails to lay out specific steps to guarantee continuity of service, seemingly leaving these important details up to the state Department of Health.”

Sears emphasized: “There is a clear need for an ongoing health planning process to accompany the implementation of the Berger Commission’s recommendations. Hospitals represent just one component of a complex web of institutions, government agencies, community health centers and individual providers. Simply addressing the crisis facing hospitals is like treating the symptom without curing the disease. We must develop and promote system-wide reforms that will fix a broken healthcare infrastructure.”

The council Task Force on Hospital Closings, Sears explained, made 25 specific recommendations, including requiring a regular review of hospital reimbursement rates, far better HMO regulation, strong support for developing a primary care infrastructure, the development of a plan for universal health insurance and significantly greater investment in healthcare information technology.