Community Care in Crisis: NYC Hospital Closures and Consolidation

Tuesday, Feb 20
7:30-9:00 PM via Zoom

Hospital closures are an ongoing crisis that countless communities across the U.S., New York State and New York City are facing within our market-based health system. Please RSVP

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

Christina Towne is Lead Strategic Researcher for the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). She earned her undergraduate degree from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and graduate degree at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. With a lifelong connection to labor, Christina draws inspiration from her mother’s proud membership in AFSCME and her father’s stewardship for IG Metall at General Motors (American GM) in Mehlingen, Germany. Prior to joining NYSNA, Christine contributed to long term care research at SEIU.

Paul Lee, MD, is President of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary Alumni Association and co-founder of Save NYEE, a recently formed non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and preserve NYEE as the premier center of excellence for eye and ear care in NYC and beyond. Dr. Lee completed his undergraduate and medical school at the University of Chicago. He completed his ophthalmology residency and glaucoma fellowship at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. He is the Chief of Ophthalmology at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center and an Independent Consultant for Eye Center of NY, a premier ophthalmology practice in Manhattan.

New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez is a former tech worker and community organizer, born and raised in a working class family in Queens. She represents District 59, covering parts of Western Queens, Northern Brooklyn, and the East Side of Manhattan. She is in her first term, and, in her late 20s, is the youngest woman ever elected to the New York State Senate. Before being elected to office, Senator Gonzalez worked in the New York City Council, the Obama White House, and Senator Chuck Schumer’s office. She is currently partnering with State Assemblymember Harvey Epstein to lead the cadre of Lower Manhattan public officials that are engaging the State Department of Health and Governor Hochul’s office to preserve Beth Israel Medical Center and New York Eye and Ear Institute as full-service institutions.

Redetha Abrahams-Nichols, DNP, MPA, RN, is Downstate Chapter President and Executive Board Member of United University Professions (UUP), and Registered Nurse for 26 years. She has held a number of positions at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, working as Assistant Director of Nursing ED until 2021, Assistant Director of Nursing Quality, and Assistant Director of Nursing Outpatient Services.

MODERATOR:

Mark Hannay is Director of Metro New York Health Care for All, a regional coalition of community groups and labor unions that work together to advocate for universal health care and undertake issue campaigns strategic to that goal. He is a Steering Committee co-chair of Health Care for All New York, coordinates the New York State Network of Health Care for America Now, and is co-convenor of Community Voices for Health System Accountability, a statewide collaborative of health advocates focusing on access to hospital care and health equity. As a 44-year resident of Lower Manhattan, he is now working to coordinate the new Save Beth Israel and New York Eye & Ear campaign.