Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman refused to nominate anyone to Nassau University Medical Center’s board — saying in a surprise announcement Tuesday he was protesting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “illegal” takeover.
Blakeman, a Republican, was set to announce his picks for board after at least 10 executives resigned in protest to New York state’s takeover of the facility — but instead said he will not be naming anybody to the Democratic governor’s “puppet board.”
“The state blatantly passed a law, which is illegal, to take over Nassau University Medical Center with the sole interest in closing the hospital as we know it,” Blakeman told reporters at a press conference outside of the hospital.
He called NUMC “one of the finest medical facilities in the United States,” and said he won’t stand for state officials shutting it down.
The state has denied allegations that it plans to shut down the hospital or convert it into a mental or behavioral health facility.
But a 2024 letter from the state Department of Health, which was obtained by The Post, said the agency determined that the only way for the hospital to be fiscally sustainable is to cut staff and multiple departments and convert to a behavioral health facility. The letter was signed by Hochul.
Blakeman blasted Hochul and state officials, accusing them of bringing on a financial crisis.
“The state has defunded this hospital with the intent to take it over and make this bogus claim that there is a financial crisis,” Blakeman said.
Former NUMC Chairman Matthew Bruderman has filed a lawsuit accusing the state of systematically defunding the hospital in a convoluted scheme. The allegations sparked a federal investigation.
“Now the state, without any transition plan, without any coordination whatsoever, has taken this power grab, and let’s be clear, this is nothing more than a cover up,” Blakeman said, citing the allegations.
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