STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 5916--A A. 8119--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
July 12, 2013
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. PARKER, DILAN, MONTGOMERY, SAMPSON --
read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Rules -- recommitted to the Committee on Health in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. CAMARA -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.
of A. BRENNAN, BROOK-KRASNY, CYMBROWITZ, JACOBS, LENTOL, MILLMAN,
MOSLEY, PERRY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health --
recommitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to creating the Brooklyn
health care commission
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new article 49-C
2 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 49-C
4 BROOKLYN HEALTH CARE COMMISSION
5 Section 996. Brooklyn health care commission.
6 996-a. Kings county health care stakeholders council.
7 § 996. Brooklyn health care commission. 1. There is hereby created in
8 the executive department, a commission to be known as the "Brooklyn
9 health care commission," hereafter referred to as the "commission",
10 which shall be charged with examining the system of general hospitals,
11 nursing homes, ambulatory and primary care facilities, and medical
12 school facilities in Kings county and recommending changes to that
13 system.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11603-02-4
S. 5916--A 2 A. 8119--A
1 2. The commission shall consist of the following eleven members: (a)
2 one member appointed by the temporary president of the senate; (b) one
3 member appointed by the speaker of the assembly; (c) one member
4 appointed by the minority leader of the senate; (d) one member appointed
5 by the minority leader of the assembly; (e) three members appointed by
6 the Kings county borough president, one member from each of the follow-
7 ing three regions: (i) north of Atlantic Avenue; (ii) south and west of
8 Flatbush Avenue; and (iii) south of Atlantic Avenue and east of Flatbush
9 Avenue; (f) two members appointed by the mayor of New York city; and
10 (g) two members appointed by the Governor.
11 3. The members of the commission shall receive no compensation for
12 their service as members, but shall be allowed their actual and neces-
13 sary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
14 4. The commission shall begin to act forty-five days after this arti-
15 cle shall have become a law.
16 5. The commissioner of health shall designate such employees of the
17 department of health as are reasonably necessary to provide support
18 services to the commission.
19 6. The commissioner of health shall appoint: (a) one or more represen-
20 tatives of the department to serve as a liaison between the department
21 and the commission; (b) one or more representatives of the department to
22 serve as a liaison between the Kings county health care stakeholders
23 council and the commission.
24 7. The director of the dormitory authority of the state of New York
25 shall appoint one or more representatives to be a liaison between the
26 commission and the authority.
27 8. All departments, commissions and public authorities of the state
28 shall be required to provide such assistance as may be reasonably
29 requested by the chair of the commission.
30 9. In carrying out its task, the commission shall:
31 (a) conduct a complete and comprehensive epidemiological study of
32 Kings county's health care challenges and needs;
33 (b) conduct a complete and comprehensive usability study of what type
34 and how much health care services are used by Kings county's residents,
35 and in which hospitals, primary care or urgent care facilities;
36 (c) study the need for capacity in the general hospital, nursing home,
37 medical school, ambulatory care facilities and services, primary care
38 facilities and services, urgent care facilities and services, public
39 health clinics, and home/community-based health care services in each
40 region of Kings county;
41 (d) study the capacity currently existing in such systems in each
42 region of Kings county;
43 (e) study the economic impact of the economic failure of Kings coun-
44 ty's hospitals, medical school and other health care facilities on the
45 state, city and Kings county economies, including the capacity of the
46 health care system to provide employment or training to health care
47 workers affected by such eventualities;
48 (f) study the amount of capital debt being carried by general hospi-
49 tals and nursing homes, and such other entities providing health care
50 services in Kings county, and the nature of the bonding and credit
51 enhancement, if any, supporting such debt, and the financial status of
52 general hospitals and nursing homes, including revenues from Medicare,
53 Medicaid, other government funds, and private third-party payors;
54 (g) study the availability of alternative sources of funding with
55 regard to the capital debt of all health care facilities in Kings coun-
56 ty;
S. 5916--A 3 A. 8119--A
1 (h) study the existence of other health care services in the affected
2 region, including the availability of services for the uninsured and
3 underinsured, and including services provided other than by general
4 hospitals and nursing homes;
5 (i) study the potential conversion of facilities or current facility
6 capacity for uses other than as inpatient or residential health care
7 facilities;
8 (j) study the extent to which a facility serves the health care needs
9 of the region, including serving Medicaid recipients, the uninsured, and
10 underserved communities; and
11 (k) study the potential for improved quality of care and the redi-
12 rection of resources from supporting excess capacity within Kings county
13 toward reinvestment into productive health care purposes in Kings coun-
14 ty, and the extent to which the actions recommended by the commission
15 would result in greater stability and efficiency in the delivery of
16 needed health care services for a community.
17 10. The commissioner of health and the director of the dormitory
18 authority of the state of New York may submit additional relevant
19 factors to be considered in the deliberations of the commission. The
20 commission shall also adopt additional factors to be considered in its
21 deliberations, from among a list of such factors submitted by the Kings
22 county health care stakeholder's council.
23 11. The commissioner shall also submit to the commission such informa-
24 tion as may be available from the department of health on general hospi-
25 tal and nursing home capacity, services and beds, availability of prima-
26 ry and ambulatory care services, and current number of beds in such
27 facilities, including, but not limited to, information from:
28 (a) operating certificate files;
29 (b) institutional cost reports;
30 (c) facility occupancy reports;
31 (d) annual reports of the certificate of need program; and
32 (e) the statewide planning and research cooperative system.
33 12. Records submitted to the commission or any committee thereof shall
34 not be subject to disclosure pursuant to article six of the public offi-
35 cers law, unless the record would be a public record before being
36 submitted to the commission.
37 13. In carrying out its task, the commission shall also formally
38 solicit recommendations from health care experts, county health depart-
39 ments, community-based organizations, state and regional health care
40 industry associations, labor unions and other interested parties as
41 broadly as it considers it necessary and proper, and it shall take into
42 account such recommendations and the recommendations of the Kings county
43 health care stakeholders council during its deliberations. In developing
44 its recommendations, the commission shall as far as practicable estimate
45 the improvement in quality of care, financial status of the hospitals,
46 and all other efficiencies that may be derived from reconfiguration of
47 the Kings county health care system.
48 14. The commission shall be finished with its study and analysis and
49 provide its recommendations, along with suggested legislative and execu-
50 tive action, including but not limited to infrastructure investments,
51 and refinancing of existing debt of general hospitals in Kings county,
52 by December first, two thousand fourteen.
53 15. The commission and its deliberations shall be subject to article
54 seven of the public officers law. The commissioners shall be considered
55 public officers.
56 16. The commission shall adopt its bylaws on or by its second meeting.
S. 5916--A 4 A. 8119--A
1 § 996-a. Kings county health care stakeholders council. 1. There is
2 hereby created as part of the commission a council to be known as the
3 "Kings county health care stakeholders council" hereafter referred to as
4 the "council", which shall consist of the following nine members: (a)
5 three members appointed by the Kings county borough president, one
6 member from each of the following three regions; (i) north of Atlantic
7 Avenue; (ii) south and west of Flatbush Avenue; and (iii) south of
8 Atlantic Avenue and east of Flatbush Avenue; (b) three members appointed
9 by the Governor, one member from each of the following three regions:
10 (i) north of Atlantic Avenue; (ii) south and west of Flatbush Avenue;
11 and (iii) south of Atlantic Avenue and east of Flatbush Avenue; and (c)
12 three members appointed by the Mayor, one member from each of the
13 following three regions: (i) north of Atlantic Avenue; (ii) south and
14 west of Flatbush Avenue; and (iii) south of Atlantic Avenue and east of
15 Flatbush Avenue.
16 2. The members of the council shall receive no compensation for their
17 service as members.
18 3. The council shall begin to act forty-five days after this article
19 shall have become a law.
20 4. The council shall have at least three public meetings during the
21 existence of the commission. Each meeting shall be held in a different
22 region of Kings county.
23 5. The council shall develop recommendations for the commission with
24 regard to reconfiguring Kings county's system of general hospitals,
25 nursing homes, ambulatory and primary care facilities, and medical
26 school facilities.
27 6. In developing recommendations for the commission, the council shall
28 foster discussions among, and conduct formal public hearings with requi-
29 site public notice to solicit input from, local stakeholder interests,
30 including but not limited to community-based organizations, health care
31 providers, labor unions, payers, businesses and consumers.
32 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
