Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul, State and Local Officials, and Community Leaders Celebrate Historic $1 Billion Investment Into SUNY Downstate Hospital

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was joined by local officials, SUNY Downstate leadership, community leaders and labor and hospital groups to celebrate the historic $1 billion investment in SUNY Downstate’s hospital. Listening to the community’s needs, Governor Hochul worked with the SUNY Downstate Advisory Board and members of the Legislature to develop a scalable plan to make necessary infrastructure improvements and renovations that will modernize hospital care for this community.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Central Brooklyn in the house, then I am in the right place. It is a glorious day, a historic day. It's a beautiful day as we celebrate a transformative $1 billion investment in SUNY Downstate Medical Center. $1 billion. We got it done. We got it done, and we're doing this to secure a brighter future for the doctors and nurses. Let's give it up for the doctors and nurses, the dedicated medical students. Let's give it up for our students. And best of all, the people of Central Brooklyn.

It doesn't happen by itself. A lot of incredible people helped us get here today, and I want to thank Dr. Wayne Riley, our president, for having a belief, for believing in this institution, this place — to take care of people in their great time of need. I want to thank him for his leadership over and over. We are so blessed to have you in this role.

I want to thank you – also, Dr. John King, the Chancellor of SUNY. He has made it happen. He was a driving force as well. Made sure this happened because he cares deeply about it. He's like a parent of a big family, right? Got a lot of institutions right, SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate, and a lot of colleges and universities. But I know he cares so deeply about this place.

We have Fred Kowal, the President of United University Professions. Fred, thank you so much for your hard work and all the labor members who are here today. Wayne Spence, the President of the Public Employee Federation and we are so fortunate to have a national leader with us here today, our very own, but America's leader for teachers, Randi Weingarten and the President of AFT. Give it up for Randi.

Our partners in government. We have someone I think you all know very well. Here is Senator Zellnor Myrie has joined us. Assemblymember Brian Cunningham is with us. Assemblymember, Monique Chandler-Waterman has joined us. Council member Mercedes Narcisse here.

And I have to make sure you know three people who are instrumental from my team in getting this over the finish line. Please give it up for Karen Persichilli Keogh, the Secretary to the Governor. Stacy Lynch, the Chief of Staff. Stacy. Thank you, Stacy. And Brooklyn's own Debbie Louis. They make me look good, don't they? I'm keeping them around. They're good. They're good.

The legacy of this institution runs so deep. President Eisenhower himself was here to lay the cornerstone back in 1954. But over 165 years, this hospital has been a vital safety net facility taking care of God's children every day. And when I think of God's children, I also have to recognize the clergy. All the clergy who were part of this effort, they kept Bishop Findlayter. You'll be hearing from him, Bishop Orlando Findlayter. Lewis Straker. So many of the clergy came together and I heard from them directly, believe me. And I saw someone as a direct line to God. I'm paying attention, right? You going to put in a good work for me after this one, my clergy?

Alright, I just want to make sure I've got it covered. have to cover all the bases. So the clergy were so instrumental, but everyone knows it's a basic human right to have quality health care by professionals in a facility that is worthy of the people. And we've had that for a long time.

But then things got a little tough, if you don't make investments, if you don't invest, then things deteriorate. Now, this is still a great facility. It is an amazing place. But I think we can do better. Yeah, I think we can do better by the people of Central Brooklyn. I think we can do better.

Because we serve over 300,000 Brooklyn residents every single year, and this reflects one of my priorities that everyone does have a right to first class, high quality health care in everyone's own community. Especially in historically underserved communities and amazingly diverse Central Brooklyn.

I just walked the streets of Little Haiti. I'll talk about this later, but it's hard to see people — God's children — living in fear. People who came here with legal status — legally here. And one day they wake up, we will wake up in August, and it's gone. So I will tell you, when I think about Central Brooklyn and diversity and people from the Caribbean and all kinds of places around the world, the growing Latino community, black and brown — people are also feeling under siege. They're feeling sometimes unwelcome in a state that is known for being welcoming. But I want them to know when you walk in the doors of SUNY Downstate. We're going to take care of you. We're going to take care of you with the very best health care because you deserve it.

Now, for almost two decades, this institution has been struggling a little bit. Like I said, falling into disrepair. Finances were unstable and some would say, “What was happening to the care?” Now I don't question the caregivers. Our nurses, our doctors, our administrators, our professionals here are nothing but the best. And our people, they're nothing but the best, but they need the resources.

I just walked into a room where women have been delivering babies since the 1960s, okay? Things have gotten a little better in some other places for moms delivering babies. I mean, my kids are kind of old. My daughter's expecting her first baby in about four weeks. So I'm on baby watch right now. My buzzer goes up. I'm out of here.

But I know the women of this community deserve a beautiful experience. They should be alone. You don't have to share the space. I've been through it. You want to kind of be alone and I think this is what we're going to give them — in emergency rooms that are going to be worthy of the people who live in this neighborhood.

We're going to make these changes, and I know we can do it. I'm sorry that in the past people didn't see how important this community was. And over a decade, and they didn't hear the alarms going off, and they didn't pay attention and make the investments. So when I became governor, it was right on my lap, I knew immediately we had to start building a team and work to restore high quality health care in this community.

So starts with money, starts with the budget. So over the last two consecutive State Budgets — and again, I give a lot of credit to your state representatives who are here today. They never left me alone. They were aggressive. They were doing their jobs. They were doing their jobs. And that's why we fought for and secured $750 million in the two budgets right there for SUNY Downstate.

And then there's more. I know you're all thinking, did she just say 750? We thought it was a billion. I could do math. I know how to do this. We work closely with the state legislature, SUNY, our labor leaders, community stakeholders, and clergy to chart a long-term future for this institution. So we directed SUNY to dedicate its annual $50 million in capital allocations for the next seven years, and that's where the other $350 million came from. Totaling $1 billion investment. $1 billion. Let's say that again, it sounds so good. $1 billion. I wasn't leaving any money on the table. Don't worry.

Second, my administration established a community advisory board to develop a roadmap for revitalization and ensuring that this hospital can continue providing high quality health care for generations. And this advisory board has done extraordinary work. They're here today. Raise your hand if you're part of the advisory board. Stand up. Take a bow, advisory board. Thank you.

They held hearings. They had us center the voices of the community stakeholders and hospital leadership and the union members. It was not an easy job, was it? Okay, we love you now. And they had to carefully review the local health data. I mean, you have to look at the numbers. What are we solving for?

Tell us the data and make sure that we could look at this again in the long term to take care of systemic, long term inequalities, inequities that surround health care, not just here, but everywhere. So they're working also as financial experts to assess the way for a long-term stable financial future so we can get that done.

So they finalize their recommendations. I'm reviewing them closely right now with my team, and I want to make sure we can revolutionize the whole patient experience here. We can get that done. And the students — to make sure that they have the opportunity to have not just a great education, but a first rate, best in class education, state-of-the-art learning facilities that they deserve as well, and restore this institution to its rightful place, reputationally, as the very best because this community deserves nothing but the best.

And I'm grateful to the community board, friends in labor, government, clergy. We all made sure this was going to happen. So let's get started. Let's get started. I'm impatient. I'm impatient. I want to make sure that anyone who walks in the door here knows that they're going to be taken care of, that there are people outside this incredible community. Even all the way up to Albany and across the state who care about what happens here. That is my commitment to you.

I may have said this a thousand times, but I am New York's first mom governor. And I look at everybody. Everybody's my family. Everybody is my child, and I'm going to continue making sure that not just are you safe and secure, you can afford to live, but when it comes time to get health care, you have nothing but the best.

Thank you very much everybody. Thank you. Thank you for working with us. Thank you so much.