Save Bayley Seton Hospital

TO: The Honorable Christine Quinn, (Chair, Health Committee)

We the undersigned, as your constituents in the City of New York, are very concerned about the threatened closing of Bayley Seton Hospital on Staten Island. The closing of this much needed hospital means the loss of many needed hospital beds and medical services and would be a disaster of epic proportions to the people. It would cause irreparable economic and social harm for the community as the loss of jobs and business for local venders would be enormous on top of the loss of access to available medical services and facilities placing the public at grave risk to their safety, health and welfare.

Moreover, this threatened closing is needless and is in breach of the contractual obligation to keep this hospital open and intact. It is an unconscionable deprivation from the people and the product of a systemic fleecing, shifting and redirection of funds, facilities and equipment from Bayley Seton Hospital to prop up St. Vincent’s Hospital which should be required to stand on its own without cannibalizing the medical facilities of other communities. This is not the only instance of manipulated medical facility gentrification in this city as it is part and parcel of such moves against other hospitals and medical facilities in other poorer sections of the City of New York as a whole. This is in restraint of trade as well. Hospitals serve a public purpose, use public facilities and receive public moneys. They need to be, and should be, regulated for the public interest and good. This is more important on issues of Homeland Security preparedness as well because if the worst were to occur there would be a serious shortage of beds, facilities and trained medical professionals to administer emergent services, vaccines and treatments to the people in this community. That would adversely effect all the people both Staten Island wide and citywide as well.

There are many things you can do to prevent this manmade disaster. For a start you can call for a full investigation of the transfer of assets. You can bring action to separate this combination that is in restraint of trade to the detriment of the people. You can bring legal action to prevent the closing and enforce the contractual obligation to keep it open, as the people have a material interest in this. You can assure that the grounds of Bayley Seton are zoned, and remain zoned, for general hospital use only. You can also grant historical landmark status to this hospital to assure this icon of Staten Island’s history is preserved for posterity. You can also exercise regulatory powers and eminent domain to both review the ability of the current administration to meet their requisite showing of an ability to meet and serve the needs of the public and, if necessary, to place this hospital into the administrative hands of a neutral receiver pending a search for another administration that can meet the requirements of ability to serve the public good under eminent domain. There are many other things you can do as well in the interest of the public. We respectfully request that you do so.

A copy on this petition is being sent to the Honorables: Michael R. Bloomberg, James Molinaro, A. Gifford Miller, Andrew Lanza, James Oddo, Michael McMehon, Betsy Gotbaum, Eliot Spitzer, John Antoniello, Lou Caravone and George Caputo as well. We thank you for your attention to this serious matter.

Sincerely,