Op-Ed: New York City’s safety net hospitals need help

When I joined the state Senate in 2019, I committed to fight for health equity. The simple fact is that the community I represent suffers from significant health-care disparities correlated with race and income. In New York City, Black women are eight times more likely than white women to die from a pregnancy-related cause and, in my home borough of Brooklyn, low-income parents disproportionately face the risks of infant mortality, low birthweight, preterm birth and other health risks.

Of course, the pandemic has crystallized these disparities and further exacerbated them. The safety net hospitals that serve my district have worked valiantly to save the lives of those who face enormous barriers to accessing quality health care. But it is unjust that New Yorkers have been subjected to a two-tier health-care system that disadvantages vulnerable populations and perpetuates racial inequality because community hospitals that serve low-income neighborhoods are paid a fraction of what facilities that serve more affluent communities get for providing an identical service. This is why I am calling on my colleagues and the governor to do the right thing and support essential funding and payment reforms for safety net hospitals.