On February 8 the New York State Assembly Standing Committee of Health held a public hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall to address the state of health care in Brooklyn. Through their written testimony, Wendy Z. Goldstein, president and CEO, and Claudia Caine, EVP/COO and hospital director, implored the committee to hear the cries of the institutions most in need. Claudia Caine delivered the testimony in person explaining relatively simple changes that can be made to assure equity and stabilization in Brooklyn.

The heart of the issue is DSH and the draconian cuts expected to decimate it. Known as the Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, these are funds meant for hospitals that served a majority of Medicaid, Medicare and uninsured. Without them, safety-net hospitals will fail. In fact, Lutheran also provided the group with an accurate definition of what a safety-net is and who it serves, which shockingly, there is no general consensus on yet. Click here to see the full text of the testimony.

Lutheran executives have been actively helping to educate our elected officials and community members about grave challenges looming ahead for safety-net hospitals. Claudia Caine also spoke with City Limits about the state of health care in Brooklyn in the wake of hospital closures. She is widely quoted in, "Dueling Prescriptions for Brooklyn's Hospitals."

In related news, click here to see potential effects of the sequestration to LHC.

For more news follow Lutheran HealthCare on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Foursquare:
Twitter - http://twitter.com/LutheranHC
Facebook - http://facebook.com/LutheranHealthCare
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/LutheranHealthcare
LinkedIn - http://tinyurl.com/mycsas
foursquare - http://foursquare.com/lutheranhc