Friday, June 20, 2025
Hundreds of health care workers, employees, retirees and community members rallied along Hempstead Turnpike last week in support of the Nassau University Medical Center, demanding that it maintain local control of its operations. A state takeover, according to the hospital and state representatives, was tacked onto the state’s budget, which has yet to be approved for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Nassau Health Care Corporation, the public benefit corporation that oversees NUMC and the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility in Uniondale, is in the midst of a legal battle with Albany, after the alleged discovery that the state engaged in a decades-long Medicaid scam to deprive NUMC, the largest safety-net hospital on Long Island, of as much as $1 billion in aid. NHCC filed further litigation in December, accusing the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, which assumed financial oversight of the hospital in 2020, of gross negligence and abuses of power.
In an op-ed published in the April 24 issue of the Herald, State Sen. Steve Rhoads, a Republican and a longtime advocate of NUMC who represents parts of East Meadow, wrote that the “deliberate and calculated withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars” from NUMC was not an “unfortunate budgeting decision.” Rhoads called it “a setup designed to justify a hostile state takeover of our county hospital.”
The hospital system serves all patients, including the uninsured and undocumented, regardless of their ability to pay for medical care. It reported significant financial improvement in 2024, ending the fiscal year with nearly $80 million in its cash reserves, up from $28 million in December 2023. Additional financial reports shared with the Herald also showed that its revenue was up by $6.2 million in November 2024, and its operating expenses were down by $1.7 million, compared with 2023.
The positive developments were attributed in part to the leadership of Matthew Bruderman, then the chairman of the NHCC board. Bruderman was removed suddenly on April 24 by County Executive Bruce Blakeman and replaced by Dr. Irina Gelman, the county’s health care commissioner. The county offered no explanation for Bruderman’s removal.
Proposals by the state include a potential restructuring of the hospital system’s board, which would allow Democrats in Albany and Nassau County to appoint the majority of NUMC’s board members.
On various Facebook pages last week, including “NUMC Needs U,” supporters wrote: “NUMC Needs U … Now more than ever. Gov. (Kathy) Hochul is changing her tactics and has found another way to take over NUMC! She wants to take over the NUMC Board now. Then they will dismantle the hospital, until it is only a mental health facility with affordable housing.”
A hospital’s ‘precarious condition
In December 2020, Alvarez & Marsal, a management consulting firm, shared an assessment of the Nassau Health Care Corporation with the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, outlining various models the hospital system could assume “to address NHCC’s precarious financial condition.” One of those models proposed “a continuing but minimal inpatient medical/surgical footprint with the full suite of current inpatient behavioral health services.”
The assessment added that “a second collocated behavioral health hospital (Article 31) license would be needed to provide inpatient psychiatric beds at current levels.”
Some of the social media posts reference Article 31 of New York state Mental Hygiene Law, which regulates services for those with mental illness.
“NUMC leadership continues its bizarre PR campaign based on ridiculous lies and scare tactics,” Gordon Tepper, the Long Island spokesman for Hochul, said. “The time and resources they have devoted to this foolishness is absurd. The state’s focus at NUMC remains squarely on patient care and the hospital’s long-term financial stability. That’s what really matters; everything else is just noise.”
The April 30 rally for NUMC began at Burger City, on Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, and ended on the hospital’s front lawn. Participants held signs with messages like “Local Control, Not Hochul Control,” and “Patients Not Politics.”
The current medical board of NUMC sent a nearly 1,500-word letter to Hochul and the State Legislature the same day, stating its opposition to the proposed takeover of the hospital’s board of directors, which would “strip the hospital of its autonomy and replace its leadership with political appointees,” according to a news release. The letter stated that “any downsizing or dismantling of the hospital and its services could overwhelm neighboring providers and create a public health crisis.”
“The long-term consequences of the current chessboard maneuvering cannot be ignored,” the letter, which is posted on NUMC’s website, added. “We are compelled to raise our voices not in defiance, but in defense of our lifelong mission, one that is now under the greatest threat it has ever faced.”
The medical board cited many of NUMC’s facilities, including its Level 1 Trauma Center, its burn unit and its recently unveiled mobile mammography van, as critical infrastructure in the region. The letter also pointed out that many of the hospital network’s training programs — including residencies and fellowships for young physicians — could be dismantled if it is taken over by the state.
“Nassau University Medical Center is not broken,” the letter states. “Too much of the current conversation has been shaped by outdated financial reports and incomplete narratives that do not truly reflect who we are today. We challenge you to see us clearly. We are working hard each and every day to address the growing health needs of our community.”
In a news release shared with the Herald on May 2, Rhoads referred to the governor’s proposal as a “hostile takeover,” calling for the full plan to be made public. He said the plan would shift control to Albany while excluding Nassau County residents from having a voice in decisions about the hospital.
“This is an egregious abuse of power and a slap in the face to every hardworking family in our county,” Rhoads said. “We will not stand by while Hochul and her cronies treat Nassau residents like a blank check to bankroll their political takeover. If the Governor wants control of the hospital, then she must take full responsibility —including every cent of its debt. Our taxpayers will not be her piggy bank.”
