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Senator Gonzalez urges DOH report to map impacts of hospital closures and service-line losses
Summary
Senator Gonzalez told the Health Committee that hospital closures and closures of specific services (for example maternity units) lack systematic assessment; S.2633A would direct the Department of Health to report on local access impacts and service mapping and was sent to first reading.
Senator Gonzalez, the sponsor identified in the bill introduction, urged the committee to require the Department of Health to produce a report mapping how hospital closures and the elimination or reduction of specific services affect access to care in nearby communities.
"When a hospital closes, there is not a broader assessment of the services in that area," Gonzalez said, arguing that the state lacks data to show how closures or the loss of a single service, such as a maternity ward, affect outcomes for expectant parents and other vulnerable patients. Gonzalez framed the measure as part of a broader set of bills addressing what she called a hospital-closure crisis and emphasized the need for service-level mapping.
The bill, S.2633A, would direct the Department of Health to complete a report on the impact of hospital closures on healthcare access in New York State and to include analysis of service-line changes. The committee moved the bill and advanced it to first reading by voice vote.
The committee record contains no detailed timeline or fiscal note for the required report; implementation steps, including report deadlines and data sources the Department of Health would use, were not specified on the record. The committee advanced the bill to first reading for further consideration.
