Senate Bill S3740

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S3740

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act directing the commissioner of health to conduct a study on the
feasibility of creating a burn center in Kings County Medical Center in
collaboration with SUNY Downstate Medical Center's University Hospital
of Brooklyn

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To study the viability and cost of a facility that would fill a medical
services void for burn victims in Brooklyn.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

This bill would establish a study to determine the feasibility of creat-
ing a burn unit in SONY Downstate Medical Center's University Hospital
of Brooklyn, which could be located in an under-utilized or unused
retrofitted former inpatient area.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

There are currently only three burn units for burn victims in New York
City: New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, Jacoby Hospital in
the Bronx, and Staten Island University Hospital North. However, the
only New York burn center to meet the qualifications for the American
Burn Association is the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at New York-
Presbyterian Hospital. Moreover, it is inexplicable that Brooklyn as the
fourth largest municipality in the nation does not have a burn center.

The number of major fires in Brooklyn has been increasing as of late.
One can only speculate that this may be attributable to increases in the
value of property - commercial or residential - in a current market
wherein the destruction of space make way for higher end and luxury real
estate. In addition to the lives lost in these fires, there were many
more injured. A number of victims were severely burned and at times
permanently disfigured because they were unable to receive immediate
treatment. It should be our goal to develop a burn center in a Brooklyn
hospital for the provision of optimal care to burn patients from the
time of injury through rehabilitation. We must address this void in the
provision of health care for our Brooklyn constituency.

It is necessary that a burn center is created to provide optimal care to
burn patients. This requires quick access to facilities, benefits from
association with teaching and fellowship programs associated with the
American College of Surgeons and the Accreditation Council for Graduate
Medical Education (ACGME).

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S2849 - referred to Health

2015-16: S.4949 - Referred to Health

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:


Approximately $1,250,000 to conduct a feasibility study to establish a
burn unit at Kings County Hospital in collaboration with the trauma
center at SUNY Downstate Medical Center's University Hospital of Brook-
lyn. It is estimated that the project would cost approximately $25
million for renovation, fixed and moveable equipment and additional
staffing.

Funding for the feasibility study is available under the governor's
current $700 million appropriation for Kings County "health care facili-
ty transformation in Kings County" specifically for capital, non-opera-
tional works.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective immediately.