Steve Rhoads: Hands off our health care, Governor Hochul

Gov. Kathy Hochul has finally confirmed what many of us have long suspected: The deliberate and calculated withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars from Nassau University Medical Center was never just an unfortunate budgeting decision — it was a setup. A setup designed to justify a hostile state takeover of our county hospital, which Hochul has now tried to sneak into this year’s budget without transparency, without accountability, and without consent from the very people who rely on this facility every day.

Let me be absolutely clear: Hands off our health care, Governor.

NUMC isn’t just any hospital. It is Nassau County’s only safety-net hospital, providing care to over 1.4 million residents, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.

It serves working-class families, first responders, veterans, seniors and some of our most vulnerable neighbors. It is a cornerstone of Long Island’s health care network, and the only option for urgent and lifesaving care for many. NUMC doesn’t belong to Albany. It doesn’t belong to Hochul. It belongs to the people of Nassau County.

Are there challenges at the hospital? Of course. No one denies that it has faced significant operational and financial headwinds — some self-inflicted — but its challenges have built up over time, not overnight. The solution is not to suffocate it by withholding desperately needed funding, only to later claim that the hospital is too weak to survive on its own and must be taken over by the state. That isn’t governance — that is sabotage.

The governor’s actions are not only deeply irresponsible; they are also dangerous. At a time when New York’s health care system is already under enormous strain, her plan to consolidate control over NUMC threatens to destabilize it. If she succeeds, the consequences will be real and immediate for over 200,000 patients the hospital treats every year, and for other health care systems that will be forced to deal with the overflow. Over 80 percent of NUMC’s patients are either Medicare/Medicaid recipients or have no insurance at all.

Are other hospitals ready to absorb them? This isn’t just a power grab — it’s a health care crisis in the making.
What makes this even more egregious is that NUMC, under its current leadership team, has taken meaningful, successful steps toward reform. We’ve seen critical changes: expansion of services, renewed commitment to patient care, improved staff morale, a Gold Seal of Approval from a nationwide hospital-accrediting organization, an upgrade to an A patient safety rating and the early stages of financial recovery, cutting operating expenses while increasing revenues and preserving its workforce. These improvements didn’t come easy. They came from hard work, local commitment, and a shared belief that NUMC can succeed as a community-led institution.

Rather than support these efforts, Hochul’s approach has been to actively undermine them. By way of comparison, SUNY Downstate, another safety-net hospital in Brooklyn, has received over $1.1 billion in state aid over the past two years. NUMC has received nothing. It has also been shut out of funding from the state’s Distressed Hospital Fund, which helps sustain safety-net hospitals in financial difficulty. The governor is creating winners and losers and, as usual under her leadership, Long Island loses. By refusing to release the funding that NUMC has earned and deserves, the state is jeopardizing the progress already made. The message from Albany is clear: Success under local leadership will not be tolerated if it doesn’t serve her political interests.

Let me remind Hochul: the role of the state is to support struggling hospitals, not seize them. If she truly cared about NUMC’s patients, health care workers and our county’s future, she would be working with us, not against us. She would release the funds that were promised. She would be investing in infrastructure, staff retention and improved care — not plotting a takeover behind closed doors.

I’m proud to stand with my Republican colleagues from Long Island in the Senate and Assembly, who have fought tooth and nail to stop this dangerous plan. I’m also encouraged to see some Democrats join us. This isn’t a partisan issue — it’s a community issue. It’s a moral issue. And it’s one that demands courage from every elected official who claims to represent the people of Nassau County.

We must not allow Albany to dictate the future of our hospital. We must not allow political maneuvering to override patients’ needs. And we absolutely must not let our only safety-net hospital be used as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. NUMC belongs in Nassau hands — and that’s where it should stay.

Steve Rhoads represents the 5th State Senate District.