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Council Member Brannan's opening remarks on Health and Hospitals Corporation budget hearing
0:00:21
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145 sec
Council Member Justin Brannan opens the executive budget hearing for FY 2026, focusing on the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. He outlines the proposed budget, key issues, and sets the agenda for the hearing.
- Introduces the hearing as day nine of executive budget hearings for FY 2026
- Highlights a 25% decrease in H&H's proposed FY 2026 subsidy compared to the preliminary plan
- Mentions council's calls for additional funding in mental health programs and other healthcare initiatives
Justin L. Brannan
0:00:21
Thank you, sergeant.
0:00:23
Okay.
0:00:24
Good morning, and welcome to day nine, I believe, of executive budget hearings for FY twenty six.
0:00:32
I'm council member Justin Brennan.
0:00:33
I chair the committee on finance and will be hearing today from New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.
0:00:39
And I'm pleased to be joined by my good friend and colleague council member Mercedes Narcisse who chairs our committee on hospitals.
0:00:47
We've been joined this morning by council members Paladino, Brooks Powers, Lewis, Carr, Salam and Gutierrez.
0:00:54
Welcome President and CEO Doctor.
0:00:57
Mitchell Katz.
0:00:57
It's always good to see you and your team.
0:00:59
Thanks for all you do and thanks for joining us today to answer our questions.
0:01:03
I always like to set the table before we start.
0:01:07
Back on 05/01/2025, the administration released the executive financial plan for FY '20 '6 to '20 '9 with a proposed FY '20 '6 budget of $115,100,000,000 The Health and Hospitals Corporation is not a city agency but under agreement with the city, they do receive a city subsidy to administer new programs.
0:01:28
H and H's proposed f y twenty six subsidy of 1,700,000,000.0 represents 1.5% of the administration's proposed FY twenty six budget in the executive plan.
0:01:39
This is a decrease of 579,200,000.0, over 25% from the 2,280,000,000.00 that was budgeted in the preliminary plan just back in January.
0:01:53
The decrease seems to result from several actions, mostly a net reduction of asylum seeker funding offset by increased funds for the H and H collective bargaining agreement.
0:02:03
The council's preliminary budget response called for additional funding to support a range of mental health programs, women's trauma informed care, outpatient support at Lincoln Hospital, a health psychologist in each of H and H maternal health departments, along with a call for a new trauma hospital on the Rockaway Peninsula.
0:02:21
At this point in our city's history, especially when it comes to mental health, our neighbors need us to meet the demands of the time.
0:02:28
We can't afford to fall short.
0:02:30
My questions today will largely focus on H and H's utilization of city funds, school based health and mental health centers, and vacancies at various H and H hospitals.
0:02:41
But I now wanna turn it to my co chair for this hearing, council member Narcisse, for her opening statement.