Albany, NY – On Friday, December 19th, Governor Kathy Hochul again vetoed the Local Input for Community Healthcare Act (S1226 Rivera /A6004 Simon). This bill has now passed the legislature twice with bipartisan support.

“It’s a real shame that the Governor vetoed this bill. Hospitals are closing with very little state oversight or community input, leaving vulnerable communities with reduced access to essential healthcare. When a hospital or unit closes, it is more than a building shutting down – it is cutting off a lifeline, and these decisions should not happen behind closed doors, said Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon. She continued, “Because the hospital closure process is entirely internal, the data upon which the Health Department relies comes from the very institutions seeking to close – including their reporting of community healthcare needs – while communities and healthcare professionals have little to no opportunity to correct the record. With the Trump administration putting a torch to New Yorkers’ healthcare, the state should be creating more avenues to improve our communities' access to healthcare, not limit it.” 

“I’m disappointed by Governor Hochul's decision to once again veto the Local Input for Community Healthcare Act. Healthcare facilities all across the State are closing without input from the communities that depend on them. We cannot continue to make closure decisions behind closed doors without assessing the impacts on the overall system, vulnerable patient communities, and healthcare workers. The incoming federal budget cuts will only worsen the situation of struggling hospitals across our State. Despite the veto, I am committed to working with the Governor and stakeholders to meet our responsibility to ensure local residents and hospital workers have a voice in the process to prevent disruptions of care and employment. I believe we can find a path to reform the hospital closure regulatory process and give our communities the power to protect their healthcare services,” said State Senator Gustavo Rivera. 

In December of 2024, Governor Hochul vetoed the LICH bill and reasoned that the Health Department would issue guidance on the matter. That guidance was only recently issued and is woefully inadequate; for example it doesn’t require a CON or health equity impact assessment for a full hospital closure, but rather only a notice, and it doesn’t require a full review by the NYS Public Health and Health Planning Council. Thus, this new guidance does very little to protect New Yorkers from the existing opaque hospital closure process. Moreover, agency guidance is less enforceable than regulations or statutes. This will leave New Yorkers even more vulnerable to the upcoming federal impacts of OBBBA, which is estimated to put over 70 hospitals at risk and which will result in significant job loss.

The LICH Act would have addressed existing gaps in the state’s review of proposed hospital and critical unit closures and required adequate advance notice to local officials and the public, a community forum held 150 days in advance of the proposed closure date to allow public comment on the hospital’s closure plan, a final closure plan that addresses concerns raised at the community forum, and public disclosure of all submitted plans by the Department of Health.

From 1997 to 2024, 53 short-term acute care hospitals out of over 200 in New York State closed, including 20 in NYC alone, costing the state approximately 8,000 hospital beds or 16% of all hospital beds. 

This bill is supported by NYSNA, 1199SEIU, Capital District Laborers, PEF, NYSUT, Community Service Society of NY, March of Dimes, Citizens Action, Community Voices for Health System Accountability, HCFANYS, NY StateWide Senior Action Council, and the NYC Council.

Governor Hochul’s veto message can be found here.