Brooklyn neighbors oppose plan to close SUNY Downstate hospital, poll says

More than 70% of residents who live near a central Brooklyn hospital oppose New York State’s plans to close the medical center and move some of its services across the street, according to a poll published Monday by opponents of the closure plan.

The survey, carried out in late February by Hart Research and financed by the American Federation of Teachers, showed 13% of neighbors supporting the state’s plan to shutter University Hospital at Downstate, a teaching hospital.

Overall, 54% of neighborhood respondents said they strongly opposed the plan and 18% said they somewhat opposed it, according to poll results released by the labor union. The poll was conducted in nine zip codes around the hospital.

The poll’s release came as politicians and labor leaders rally to the cause of the medical center, which is located in the predominantly Black neighborhood of East Flatbush.The hospital is on the chopping block under a proposed transformation plan from Gov. Hochul’s administration.

“Central Brooklyn needs Downstate,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told reporters in a video briefing on Monday, adding that the community “wants to make sure this hospital is strengthened — not closed.”

Central Brooklyn has a shortage of quality health care options. A January state Health Department report said hospital quality is “generally low across Brooklyn and is lowest in communities with a large proportion of Black residents.”

The Downstate hospital houses the lone kidney transplant program in Brooklyn and one of two high-level perinatal care centers in the borough, according to the office of the local state senator, Zellnor Myrie, a Democrat.

On Friday, Myrie and the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered impassioned speeches to a hundreds-strong rally in opposition to the planned closure.

The Downstate medical center sits across the street from the city-run Kings County Hospital Center. Some in-patient services offered by the state-run hospital would be moved into the city hospital under the state’s plan, according to a spokeswoman for the state university system.

The spokeswoman, Katie Blitz, issued a statement Monday saying, “We’ve heard from hundreds of community members about their concerns and aspirations around Downstate, and are working with the community to come up with a plan that will save this gem.”

But the statement also said the hospital’s “ongoing fiscal crisis and physical condition have put all of the inpatient, outpatient, and academic services Downstate currently provides at risk of catastrophic failure.”

Under the state’s plan, it is unclear if the kidney program and the perinatal care program would continue to be provided in East Flatbush, or moved elsewhere in Brooklyn.

The poll results published Monday surfaced concerns that services would decline if moved across the street. According to the data, 55% of respondents said they felt confident Kings County Hospital would provide good emergency room services if Downstate closes.

Black residents were especially concerned about the plan, according to the poll results: 77% said they opposed the state’s plan.