Simon’s LICH Act to reform hospital closures passes in Assembly

ALBANY — Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights) has been working to change the way the state closes hospitals since 2015.

“It’s outrageous that hospitals close with virtually no public notice, engagement, or state oversight,” Simon said. “The public ought to know before – not after – their local hospital is shuttered.”

On April 2, her bill to reform hospital closures passed the New York Assembly 118-29 with bipartisan support. The legislation is named the Local Input in Community Healthcare (LICH) Act after the tumultuous closure and sale of Brooklyn’s Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill by SUNY Downstate in 2014. 

Community members, officials and health care workers fought for two years to stop the state from selling the 156-year-old hospital to developer Fortis Property Group. The measure is meant to ensure that what happened at LICH won’t play out at other hospitals across New York.

The LICH Act requires public notice and public engagement when a hospital seeks to either close entirely or close a unit that provides emergency, maternity, mental health, or substance use care. The bill would also strengthen state review of the proposed closings.

“I have passed the bill in the Assembly a few times before, but it hasn’t gotten traction in the Senate. I’m thrilled that the Senate Health Committee Chair, Sen. Gustavo Rivera, has now taken up the bill in the Senate. We made some amendments, and I’m tentatively hopeful that this will enable us to pass the bill in the other house,” Simon said in a statement.

Fulfilling a promise

The LICH Act was the first bill to be introduced by Simon in 2015, fulfilling a promise made during her election campaign for the 52nd Assembly District. She introduced it in response to what she called at that time the “utter…