Amidst a proposed plan from the state to close SUNY Downstate Hospital, a new poll showed residents living in central Brooklyn favored keeping the teaching hospital open.
Of the 601 surveyed Brooklynites living near SUNY Downstate, 71% opposed its closure, with even higher rates among those who have received care there (79%), older adults (76%), and Black residents (77%), according to new polling data from Hart Research.
Key concerns highlighted by the community included longer waiting times at alternative medical facilities, the potential loss of around 4,000 jobs and the discontinuation of essential healthcare services such as maternal and perinatal care, NICU services and cardiac care, according to a news release.
Additionally, survey respondents reportedly expressed apprehension over the termination of SUNY Downstate's training and educational programs, as well as the potential closure of the only kidney transplant center in the borough.
In light of those concerns, nearly three-quarters of participants called upon New York legislators to intervene and prevent the closure, according to the survey.
“The public is sending a clear message to the powers that be: They don’t want Downstate closed,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who spoke at a press conference.
“Central Brooklyn — particularly communities of color — will lose access to critical, necessary healthcare services if this vital teaching hospital is shuttered, and voters have made clear, bigtime, that they do not want this economic engine and the jobs it creates cut from their neighborhood. Downstate needs investment, not to be abandoned.”
