As Albany finalizes new plan for control of NUMC board, an incendiary effort to block it pops up
NUMC-related flyers posted on social media Tuesday.
In a last-minute flurry, supporters of the status quo at Nassau University Medical Center engaged in an incendiary social media blitz Tuesday to stop action in Albany that would change the governing structure of NUMC.
But multiple sources told The Point that the proposed changes — which would give Gov. Kathy Hochul, together with the leaders of the State Senate and Assembly, control of the hospital board — are definitely included in the budget, though some specific language and details are still being finalized. Voting on the budget bills could begin later this week.
Besides changing the governance structure of the board, the budget also likely will include capital funding for the hospital, though the numbers are still being finalized, sources told The Point. Any funds would be contingent on better management of the facility.
None of the state changes would close the hospital or result in the hyperbolic scenarios supporters of the current NUMC administration are depicting.
However, that didn’t stop multiple NUMC-related Facebook pages that are followed by hospital employees, retirees and others from posting missive after missive that suggested — without evidence — that Hochul’s plan was to "end the medical care, close the ED [emergency department] and make the 52 acre campus a dumping ground for the NYC homeless and mentally ill."
"I’m begging you all to take a little time TODAY to make calls," one post said, without identifying who the "I" was in that sentence. "Tomorrow may be too late." It listed the office numbers of Albany legislative leaders and Long Island state senators and Assembly members.
By Tuesday afternoon, supporters announced plans for an event at 3 p.m. Wednesday to protest the state budget changes, in which they plan to walk from Burger City in East Meadow to the hospital.
"Fight For Your Town," the rally announcement said.
In a separate post, one page improperly used Zillow’s logo on a flyer topped with "ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Nassau County Housing Prices to Take Nose Dive!" and claiming that Hochul "plans to move NYC new immigrants to East Meadow."
"Eisenhower Park to become tent city!" the flyer cried.
Another post featured a black and white photo of the hospital, with words superimposed.
"In Memory of NUMC 1931-2025," it said. "YOU can prevent this."
The state’s changes to the governing board of NUMC’s public benefit corporation have been in the works for months. But last week’s puzzling events — involving a claim by former Nassau Health Care Corp. chairman Matthew Bruderman that he was robbed of financial documents related to allegations that the state owes the hospital $1 billion, and then, hours later, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s announcement that Bruderman was out as chairman — gave the budget moves more urgency, sources told The Point.
"The whole incident exacerbated the hospital’s problems and brought to the surface the fact that the hospital needs a lot of reform and help," a source close to the budget negotiations said. "If anything, it expedited pushing that legislation to reform NUMC’s governance more rapidly."
The series of events also raised concern from Nassau County’s legislative minority caucus, which issued a request for document and data preservation from the Blakeman administration. Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton sent a letter Tuesday which she couched as "formal notice to you and all members of your Administration of your legal duty to preserve relevant information when a proceeding, such as a civil or criminal government investigation, is reasonably anticipated."
"The reported allegations, including the purported burglary of Mr. Bruderman’s home for the purpose of stealing confidential NHCC documents — which were later found and returned by local police, without explanation — are truly bewildering," DeRiggi-Whitton wrote. "These revelations have emerged in the aftermath of a sequence of lawsuits and an FBI investigation over state Medicaid reimbursements, all initiated by Mr. Bruderman. The cumulative impact of these events and Mr. Bruderman’s unprofessional outbursts finally necessitated your action to remove him from the NHCC board as chairman."
A Blakeman spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
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