Doctors Council Letter to Gov. Cuomo

March 25, 2020

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

Doctors Council SEIU represents thousands of doctors throughout New York City and in other cities, counties and states.  We write to join with the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU (CIR) to show solidarity with our fellow union members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) in regards to enacting the full powers of the state to ensure that all healthcare workers, specifically those on the front lines of care, are protected during this time.

We are calling on you, for the safety of our doctors, nurses, and all New Yorkers, to enact the following demands made by NYSNA:

1. Mandatory Emergency Action by the State to Produce, Procure and Distribute Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
2. Maintain the Highest Possible Level of Mandatory Infection Control Measures to Protect Health Workers
3. The State Must Announce and Implement a Full Financial Backstop for all New York Hospitals and Other Critical Facilities and Providers
4. State Assumption of Non-Operating Costs of Hospitals and other Vital Facilities
5. Immediate Moratorium On All Closures of Hospitals and Reductions in Services
6. Emergency Measures to Provide Support Services to Keep Nurses and Other Health Workers at  their Posts
7. Immediately Pass a Formal Budget With No Cuts in Health Care Funding To Allow the Health Care System to Focus on Emergency Response
8. Any Emergency Measures to Deregulate the Health Care System Must be Temporary in Nature and Expire When the State of Emergency Has Ended

As doctors on the front lines of care, we are ready to treat everyone that comes to our hospitals, but we can only do so knowing that we are protected and that our patients won’t suffer any more than they already are though this crisis.

Respectfully,

Frank Proscia, M.D.
President

Kevin Collins
Executive Director