PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Deborah Socolar, Healthcare Researcher and Access Advocate, on Hospital Closures and Healthcare Access
3:14:18
·
3 min
Deborah Socolar, a healthcare researcher and access advocate, testified about the importance of maintaining hospital capacity and the negative impacts of hospital closures. She emphasized lessons from the pandemic and the need for city health planning.
- Highlighted the need for more single-bed hospital rooms and surge capacity based on pandemic lessons
- Discussed the consequences of hospital closures, including patients being lost to the healthcare system
- Pointed out the current strain on hospital capacity, using examples of recent closures and their effects on community health centers
Deborah Socolar
3:14:18
I have a vocal cord disability.
3:14:20
I hope you can understand me.
3:14:22
Sure.
3:14:25
Thank you very much for taking up this vital topic of this hearing.
3:14:30
My name is Deborah Sokolar.
3:14:32
I live in Upper Manhattan.
3:14:35
I am both a researcher on health care access and costs and an access advocate.
3:14:46
For years at Boston University and now independently.
3:14:51
I'm speaking today only for myself.
3:14:55
I hope the counselors will urge the governor to sign the lit bill, and will also support Senator Kristen Gonzalez Bill on at at risk hospitals.
3:15:07
Here are a few brief points that I'll expand on in testimony, that I'll email.
3:15:14
2 lessons from the pandemic.
3:15:17
We need more single bed hospital rooms to reduce airborne infections, and we need surge capacity.
3:15:28
So let's assume that all existing hospital capacity is needed until proven otherwise.
3:15:34
Truly proven otherwise.
3:15:37
When a hospital closes, evidence suggests that as many as a third of the patients are completely lost to the healthcare system, not finding their way to other care.
3:15:51
Appallingly, when New York's officials approved closing Kingsborough, a explicitly assumed that a substantial share of its inpatient volume will not materialize at other hospitals.
3:16:09
This should not be acceptable.
3:16:13
Closing Kingsborough was supposed to be fine with 2 other hospitals appearing nearby, but right now far from the crunch of flu season and state and king's county are running with only 1% of their non ICU beds for me.
3:16:29
Let me just mention very quickly research on urban hospitals.
3:16:34
But my colleague, Alex Ager, shows that for decades, the single strongest predictor of which hospitals would close is the percentageable act in the community.
3:16:46
And finally, since a, Austin Hospital, all in my old neighborhood, closed 2 months ago.
3:16:55
Local community health centers not only have more patients to see, but they have more comp flex sicker patients to see.
3:17:04
So that is delaying care for everybody.
3:17:10
I'd really appreciate hearing that the city is city council committees here are contemplating, promoting the idea of city health planning.
3:17:23
And thank you very much.
