SUNY Union Leader: Teaching Hospitals Not Able to Withstand Cuts

PHILLIP H. SMITH: Teaching hospitals may flatline.

United University Professions President Phillip H. Smith has urged state lawmakers to resist any more cuts to the State University of New York system, saying that its three teaching hospitals are near the breaking point due to lack of funding.

"The quality of health care provid- ed by these institutions is at great risk," Mr. Smith told a joint legislative hearing in Albany on Governor Paterson's new Executive Budget. He warned that the public hospitals at Syracuse, Downstate Medical in Brooklyn and Stony Brook Universities are in dire need of funding, as they are mandated by law to serve uninsured and underinsured patients.

Urges $65M Turnaround

Mr. Smith asked the State Legislature to reverse the $25 million in cuts to teaching hospitals proposed by the Governor and instead increase the state subsidy of SUNY by $40 million.

"The issue here is whether SUNY can continue to provide accessible public higher education and quality health care for New Yorkers," he said. "I would argue that even during these difficult times, the state must give SUNY the funding it needs to fulfill its core mission. Full-time faculty continues to be depleted with the result that courses are being cancelled, class sizes are increasing to unacceptably high levels, and admission is being denied to tens of thousands of qualified high school and community college graduates."

Mr. Smith also railed against the Governor's proposal to postpone the scheduled salary increase for UUP members, saying such a move was illegal and in violation of their contract with the state.

But the union head praised some aspects of the Executive Budget. Unlike his counterpart Barbara Bowen at the Professional Staff Congress, who represents faculty at the City University of New York, Mr. Smith came out in favor of tuition increases, predicting a net increase of $40 million in SUNY operating funds. He also praised a motion to create a $75-million supplemental operating aid fund derived from the University's reserves and uncommitted fund balances.