NEW YORK (AP) - An appeals court was asked Friday to declare that a state commission which recommended hospital closings across New York acted illegally.
Legislators formed the commission because they didn't want to decide which hospitals to close and then have to face voters, said attorney Thomas Bezanson, arguing on behalf of a Bronx patient. 'They had a political hot potato in their hands and didn't want to take the heat.'
'It is bedrock constitutional law that the legislature may not delegate its functions to others,' Bezanson told state Appellate Division judges in Manhattan. He asserted that lawmakers illegally allowed unelected commission members to make law in the area of health care policy.
The state countered that the commission's actions were routine and proper.
The arguments involve the New York State Commission on Health Facilities in the 21st Century, known as the Berger Commission.
Bezanson said a win by his client would have implications for all of the health facilities around the state that are slated to close.
The plaintiff, Mary McKinney, 65, said outside court that the closing of Westchester Square Medical Center could mean the difference between life and death for her.
'I would have to go farther to get to Jacobi or Montefiori (hospitals), and wait longer for treatment,' she said. 'For an asthmatic, a few minutes can make the difference.'
On Nov. 28, the commission recommended closing nine hospitals and seven nursing homes statewide by mid-2008 and the merging or downsizing of dozens more. The commission's plan eliminated 4,200 hospital beds -- about 7 percent statewide.
Of the nine hospitals, one is near Albany, two are in western New York, one is in the lower Hudson Valley and the rest are in New York City. The panel said about 6,400 people work in the hospitals and nursing homes recommended for closing.
The commission's recommendations automatically became law on Jan. 1 in the absence of any disapproval by the legislature, Bezanson said.
Sasha Sambero-Champion, state assistant solicitor general, said the legislature acted within its authority to reduce unused hospital beds and to increase efficiency in delivering health care.
Contrary to Bezanson's assertion, Sambero-Champion told the appellate judges, the commission was not a 'rudderless' body, acting totally on its own without any control or guidance from the legislature.
Sambero-Champion also challenged the McKinney's right to sue simply as a taxpayer. He said prior cases have denied parties the right to sue the government just because tax money was spent.
The five appeals court judges reserved decision on the case.
More than a dozen lawsuits opposing the closings and mergers have been filed.
A spokeswoman for the state Health Department, Claire Pospisil, said the agency would have no comment on the argument before the Appellate Division but would wait until the court issued a decision.
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© 2007 AFX News
