S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2633
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 22, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. GONZALEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to direct the department of health to complete a  report  on  the
   impact of hospital closures on healthcare access in New York state
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds:
   1. The serious public emergency regarding hospital closures across New
 York state continues to exist, and this emergency puts individuals at  a
 heightened risk of death, illness, and economic hardship. These closures
 impact  both  public and private general hospitals or healthcare facili-
 ties owned by one or more hospital networks, full-service hospitals, and
 critical care units.
   2. The legislature finds and declares that in order to prevent  death,
 hardship,  and  other  negative  health outcomes to New York state resi-
 dents, the provisions of  this  act  are  necessary  to  protect  public
 health,  safety,  and  general  welfare.    The following provisions are
 designed to strengthen the already established  department  of  health's
 ongoing  reporting  efforts  and  ensure that the findings are presented
 clearly and are accessible to the general public  and  the  legislature.
 The  necessity  in the public interest is hereby declared as a matter of
 legislative determination.
   § 2. 1. The department of health shall produce a report that  examines
 the  aggregate  impact  of the closure of general hospitals and hospital
 networks on healthcare access in this state.  In producing  such  report
 the  department  of  health  shall  meaningfully  engage  public  health
 experts, labor representatives  of  the  hospital  workforce,  community
 leaders and residents of New York state.
   (a)  The  report  shall  include  statewide data on, including but not
 limited to:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06391-01-5
 S. 2633                             2
              

 
   (i) the number of hospitals and hospital networks in each  county  or,
 where relevant, zip code;
   (ii)  the  average number of total and available hospital beds in each
 county or, where relevant, zip code;
   (iii) the number of acute care hospital beds per  one  thousand  resi-
 dents by county or, where relevant, zip code;
   (iv)  the number of medicare and Medicaid recipients, and the percent-
 age of insured and uninsured patients served, by county or, where  rele-
 vant, zip code;
   (v)  projected market shares of all hospitals and hospital networks in
 New York state;
   (vi) the financial condition of the hospitals  and  hospital  networks
 that  have  submitted  a  proposal  to close to the department of health
 within the past year, which shall include, but not be limited to:
   (1)  the financial viability of the services and units  hospitals  are
 proposing to terminate, transfer and merge; and
   (2)  the financial impact hospitals and hospital networks will have if
 they continue to operate without closing  or  reducing  or  transferring
 services;
   (vii)   the  travel  times  between  hospitals  that  provide  similar
 services, which shall include, but not be limited to, travel  times  for
 public transportation options;
   (viii)  the  number  and  location  of  hospitals  that have closed or
 reduced services in the previous five years, including but  not  limited
 to unit closures or reductions in patient capacity; and
   (ix)  regions where additional hospitals are currently needed based on
 public needs;
   (x) the race, sex, gender, age, economic status, and disability status
 of patients served by each hospital and hospital network in the previous
 five years;
   (xi) the payor mix of the patients served by  each  hospital  for  the
 previous five years, including but not limited to the number of medicare
 and  Medicaid  recipients,  and  the percentage of insured and uninsured
 patients served;
   (xii) the number of staff currently  employed  at  each  hospital  and
 hospital  network,  including but not limited to an itemized listing, by
 profession, of healthcare workers, as well as administrative and support
 workers;
   (xiii) access to each hospital  and  hospital  network  by  public  or
 private transportation, including transportation sponsored by the hospi-
 tal and hospital network itself;
   (xiv)  the  nature and scope of healthcare services currently provided
 in each hospital and hospital network; and
   (xv) the change in  service  volume  in  each  hospital  and  hospital
 network  for  the  previous  five years, which shall include, but not be
 limited to:
   (1) a thirty day average daily census of inpatient beds; and
   (2) a thirty day average wait time to be admitted from  the  emergency
 room.
   (b) If the department of health does not have access to the data list-
 ed  in  paragraph  (a) of this subdivision, the department shall collect
 such data or provide an explanation why it is  unable  to  collect  such
 data.
   (c) The department of health shall produce a report on the findings of
 such study no later than April 1, 2026. Such report shall be provided in
 electronic format and shall be distributed to the temporary president of
 S. 2633                             3
 
 the  senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chair of the senate stand-
 ing committee on health, and the chair of the assembly health committee.
 The department of health shall publicly post the report on  the  depart-
 ment of health's website within one week of the distribution.
   2.  The  report  shall  use  the data collected to define and identify
 areas at risk of future hospital closures. These areas shall  be  desig-
 nated "distressed healthcare zones".
   3.  The department of health shall issue successive reports containing
 the information in paragraph (a) of  subdivision  one  of  this  section
 every three years after the initial report. Each successive report shall
 update  designations  of  distressed  healthcare  zones  as  the  report
 mandates. Distressed healthcare zones shall be prioritized when allocat-
 ing healthcare spending and when issuing a  certificate  of  need.  Such
 findings  shall be drafted in clear and concise language readily compre-
 hensible for members of the public in general.
   § 3. This act shall  take  effect  immediately.  The  commissioner  of
 health  and  the  public  health  and health planning council shall make
 regulations and take other actions  reasonably  necessary  to  implement
 this act.