As the New York legislature rushed to meet its deadline for passing the state budget, hundreds of millions of dollars for distressed hospitals in underserved communities were at risk. But an intensive campaign by 1199ers from upstate and Hudson Valley communities to central Brooklyn and Queens in New York City helped convince the legislature to include in the budget some $285 million for some 28 hospitals in danger of closing.

In addition to saving vital access to critical care and emergency medical services for two million New Yorkers, the funding—under the Vital Access Provider program—will save nearly 25,000 caregiver jobs. The at-risk hospitals are located primarily in poor communities and, for millions of New Yorkers, are the only available facilities.

Genell Baines, a 14-year patient access coordinator and 1199SEIU member at Hudson Valley’s Nyack Hospital, said, “It is our responsibility to keep open the doors of my hospital. What would our community do without a hospital? Where would people go for their emergencies? Our patients and our community need peace of mind.”

In the week leading up to the April 1 vote, 1199ers visited with one hundred state senators and Assembly members, and made nearly two thousand phone calls to lawmakers, in addition to hundreds of emails and petitions. The union also organized community events bringing together legislators, the media, healthcare workers and patients.

Dawn Rose, Kingsbridge Jewish Medical Center: “This is an important fight because the patients and community we serve deserve healthcare without compromise, said 1199er Dawn Rose at Kingsbridge Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn. “ Without adequate funding, quality of care would be depleted and that’s not fair to anyone.”

Kathy DeForest, is an operating room RN in the Auburn Community Hospital, the only hospital in upstate Cayuga County. She said that the hospital “is critical to the people that live in this community--important to the nurses that work here and to the patients that come through those doors every day. Our hospital simply can’t afford to lose millions of dollars in funding and Cayuga County can’t afford to lose our community hospital. This is a small town. A lot of people don’t travel more than 10 miles outside the radius of where they live. For those people, it’s a big deal to have care here.”

New Yorkers can take comfort in knowing that the legislature heard these appeals and those of thousands of other 1199 members.