Requires public notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or a unit that provides maternity…

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Requires public notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance use care

The heading above is this same sentence with its legal opening removed. No words were added, changed or reordered.

Latest action Apr 28, 2026

Requires public notice and public engagement when a general hospital seeks to close entirely or a unit that provides maternity, mental health or substance use care.

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Where it stands

Passed one of the two chambers; it still needs the other.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A10736, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Public Health Law.

Committee

Health · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Health · New York State Senate.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

Section one names the act as the "Local Input in Community Healthcare Act" Section two amends section 2801-g of the public health law (PHL) as it relates to a community .forum on hospital closure, to set forth a proc- ess for closure of a general hospital or unit of a general hospital. Subdivision 1 defines unit and reduction for purposes of this section. Subdivision 2 is amended to set forth the process for the closure of a general hospital. General hospitals must provide written notification of proposed closure of a general hospital to the Department of Health (DOH) no later than 270 days before the proposed closure date, and allows hospitals to confer with DOH prior to giving written notice. The closure application will require review from the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC), which includes the health equity impact assessment. The application would be submitted at least 210 days before the proposed closure. No cessation, transfer, pause, or limitation of service may be carried out without prior written approval by the Commis- sioner of Health (COH). *Paragraph (c) is added to extend the period that the COH is required to hold a public community forum to obtain public input concerning the anticipated impact of the hospital closure from no later than 30 days after to 150 days before the proposed closure. Additionally, requires the COH to make the following information publicly available no later than 30 days prior to a community forum: the proposed closure plan submitted by the health facility, the impact on access to health care services to the surrounding community and information on specific meas- ures DOH will take, and any other recommendations to address the impact of the closure on health care services, including but not limited to ensuring services being eliminated are still accessible to medicaid recipients or individuals insured by publicly subsidized plans, and uninsured residents in the surrounding facilities. The COH must announce the date and location of the community forum on the proposed closure of a hospital 14 days prior, instead of 10 days prior, to be held and must ensure the forum is held at a proper time and accessible to the impacted community virtually and physically. *Paragraphs (d)-(e) require hospitals to submit a revised plan address- ing community concerns no later than 30 days after the community forum and make it publicly available within 45 days after the forum. PHHPC must meet to review the application with the revised plan no later than 90 days after the forum and must make a recommendation to the commis- sioner within two weeks after meeting. Subdivision 3 sets forth the process for unit reductions or closures that affect emergency, maternity, mental health, substance use, or any other licensed services in the operating certificate including specialty care. Requires written notification no later than 210 days prior and provides for exemptions from the required process for a reduction or closure of a unit. The community forum is required to be held no later than 90 days prior to the proposed closure date. At least 14 days before the forum, the hospital must notify the community stakeholders of the date and location of the forum and the COH must make the proposed closure plan publicly available. *Paragraph (d)-(e) requires hospitals to submit a revised unit closure plan addressing community concerns no later than 30 days after the community forum and make it publicly available within 45 days after the forum. PHHPC must meet to review the application with the revised plan no later than 90 days after the forum and must make a recommendation to the commissioner within two weeks after meeting. Subdivision 4 requires the COH to make a decision to either approve or deny a closure plan within 30 days following receipt of a PHHPC recom- mendation. Former subdivision 4 is now new subdivision 5 Adds a new subdivision 6 requiring an annual report to the legislature by the DOH on a list

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateMar 23, 2026Result: passed
(56) (4) (0) (3)
Vote: Committee vote · Health
Senate HealthMar 17, 2026Result: passed
(13) (1) (0) (1)

Cosponsors

Brian Kavanagh, Christopher Eachus and 24 more on Agora

Democratic23
Republican3

See the full list on nysenate.gov

The sponsor's argument

Why Gustavo Rivera says this is needed

Across New York State, there have been several incidents when hospitals summarily announce planned closures of maternity services, emergency departments, mental health, and substance use services, and even entire hospitals, without any prior communication or meaningful engagement with the local communities they serve. Over the last decade, 10 hospitals in New York State closed their maternity services (in Columbia, Franklin, Lewis, New York, Niagara, Ontario, Otsego, St. Lawrence, and Wyoming counties). So far in 2024, two more maternity service closures are pending in Rensselaer and Suffolk counties. Two major closings of entire hospitals are under consideration and facing community opposition in lower Manhattan and in Central Brooklyn, after last year's closures of another Brooklyn hospital and a hospital in Eastern Niagara County. More closures are likely; a recent study by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform found that there are 27 rural hospitals in New York State at risk of closing, amounting to 53 percent of all rural hospitals in the state. (source:https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/ finance/ 646-hospitals-at-risk-of-closure-rankedby-state.html) Closures of any of these services, or of the entire hospital, can have a devastating impact on the communities that have depended on these facil- ities for care. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York City in early 2020, one of the boroughs most affected (Queens) was ill-prepared because of hospital closings in that borough. Elmhurst Hospital, a public hospital, was forced to shoulder more than its fair share of COVID-19 cases because of the closures of St. John's Queens Hospital, Mary Immaculate Hospital, and Parkway Hospital in 2009. (source: https://qns.com/2020/03/ demise-of-three-oueens- hospitals-11-years-ago-adds-to-pain-ofborouchs- coronavirus-tracedies/) Closures of hospital maternity services are leaving entire counties without any nearby access to labor and delivery, causing pregnant patients to have to travel long distances to the nearest hospital with maternal health services. The proposed closure of the Burdett Birth Center in Troy, for example, would leave Rensselaer County as the larg- est county in the state without maternity care, and also affect pregnant people in adjacent rural Washington and Columbia counties, which lack their own maternity services. The March of Dimes warns that the further a pregnant person has to travel to obtain maternity care, the greater the chances that there will be a negative outcome. There is a higher risk for complications and death for both mothers and babies in communi- ties that do not have maternity care services, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Closures of hospital psychiatric services were numerous during the pandemic, with more than two dozen hospitals closing more than 500 psychiatric beds. The Hochul administration has been working to bring those back into service, citing a severe shortage of short-term beds for patients suffering psychiatric crises. (Source: https://wvvw.nytimes.com/2023/ 10/12/nyregion/hospitals-hochul-mental-health.html) Despite the serious impact of such closures on communities, especially those where people are already medically-underserved and not easily able to travel elsewhere for care, New York State Public Health Law does not adequately require hospitals to engage the public and work to address their concerns. Too little (if any) advance notice is given to the community and key stakeholders, and under the law, a public hearing is not required until 30 days after a hospital closes (although recent state Department of Health guidance to hospitals has required an advance hearing). While the state's new Health Equity Impact Assessment law is helping to improve community engagement, it does not apply to closings of entire hospitals because those are carried out through simple notice to the Department and a closure plan, not a Certificate of Nee

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

Apr 28, 2026
Reported out of committee
REPORTED REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS
NY Assembly
Mar 27, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HEALTH
NY Assembly
Mar 23, 2026
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Mar 23, 2026
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Mar 23, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HEALTH
NY Assembly

Show full history (4 earlier events)

Mar 19, 2026
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Mar 18, 2026
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Mar 17, 2026
1ST Report CAL.561
1ST REPORT CAL.561
NY Senate
Mar 6, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HEALTH
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Cosponsors: The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.
Party colors: Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 23, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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