Hello, friends,
I hope you're all having a great, happy holiday season - whatever it is you celebrate. It may be that you don't celebrate anything, in which case I hope you're just plain-old happy. If not, I hope things improve.
Just as a reminder, I don't really use The Weekly Freeporter for much, these days, seeing as I'm no longer in Freeport. I may not be as nosy, these days. Still, when major news or issues are in the air, I do still have a nose, so I sniff about. And sometimes a story involves all of Nassau County (Where I do, in fact, live), or Long Island, or New York. Sometimes it's about more than Freeport.
That's how we got to today's story.
Now, this is a classic, "Jesse sat down to write because of a mailer he got." It's about NUMC - Nassau University Medical Center.
BUT! One quick note: I don't suggest anyone scan random QR codes, but I do believe this mailer came from a legitimate source because the website in question seems to be legit.
So What's Up With NUMC?
The mailer says some heavily charged things, there's no question about that. Besides listing some statistics on how much care NUMC provides, the big shocker of a claim is this:
New York State has been violating Federal law with regards to NUMC, slashing the funding it's entitled to and - therefore - crippling the institution and delivering worse care to Long Islanders as a result.
Nobody loves going to the hospital, but we do want them to be funded because if (really more when) we wind up in one, we want the doctors to be paid well to investigate deeper; we want the nurses well funded so they have lower patient-to-staff ratios and can take better care of us; we want the chefs well paid so the hospital food isn't quite as terrible.
And if NYS is shortchanging Nassau? THAT'S a problem. We LIVE here! WE might be taken to the hospital through no fault of our own! And if that hospital might not exist? Or might be crippled? Or in fact is crippled? We should know.
So let's keep digging.
The mailer also says that "Albany politicians" (A loaded term, to be sure) are planning to take over and run the hospital. Well, that's neat! How's THAT work?
Let's look at the website, next.
Digging Deeper, Because Of Course We Are!
Hey. Unlike Maven, this is actually very important - and maybe the website will have more to say. Again, that website is at this link. I strongly advise you to read it on your own, because whatever it ends up saying? That'll be important.
One quick read later, and my thoughts are...
Okay, so, here we go. The website goes into more detail about these claims, but it doesn't provide a bevy of links to reporting or fact sheets or budgets, which is unfortunate because it means now I have to do that work. Which is what I was hoping to avoid.
When I say it doesn't provide a "bevy" of links, that doesn't mean it doesn't provide any. For example, here's a link to a .PDF-file-format letter from NHCC Chairman Matthew J. Bruderman to the New York State Department of Health and its Commissioner, James V. McDonald, dated November 19th, 2024.
In it, Bruderman goes into more detail about some of the, well...Concerns? Is that the right word for, "You're fucking with my hospital?" Concerns he has about how New York State is, well, fucking with his hospital.
Yes, I curse when appropriate. I am a born-and-bred Freeporter, what did you expect?
Now, I have to interject something, here, because sadly it's extremely relevant: Bruderman was a very controversial pick for his position. He's described by ABC News as a "millionaire investor and entrepreneur" who just so happened to be the biggest donor to Bruce Blakeman's campaign for Nassau Executive.
Interesting.
It's interesting that Blakeman put a complete novice in Healthcare in charge of such a vital, if decaying jewel of Nassau County's. Because he's an "outsider," and surely not at all because he may have paid for the opportunity to run the place to his benefit.
In fact, Bruderman apparently offered to donate $1.5 million to NUMC if - IF - he was allowed to take over. What?!
It's also worth noting that NUMC was already struggling with funding issues, so whatever's up, it isn't strictly a Blakeman-NYS conflict. It predates that. So whatever's up, this isn't strictly a "Blakeman's guy messed it up" situation. It's more a, "It's been messed up for a while, and Blakeman's guy hasn't necessarily helped."
ALSO-ALSO: Newsday points out that Bruderman is in charge of NuHealth, which is in fact the organization responsible for the mailer and the website.
In other words, this is definitely some kind of rabbit hole. Dammit.
Anyway, the letter. It's proving...Interesting.
Bruderman's Letter
Some of the terms in the letter, like "VAPAP 2025 Application" are totally unknown to me. It seems to relate to the Nursing Home Vital Access Provider Assurance Program. It seems there's some kind of dispute over that, but Bruderman isn't particularly clear.
In fact - and, like, I'm trying to be generous here - Bruderman goes on to rant about political processes (which, okay?) and then starts yelling about a person named Meg Ryan (the actress? He doesn't introduce her role well, but I think she's NuHealth's CEO) and the work she's done to - I think? - boost the financial situation of NUMC.
He literally opens a paragraph with, "While we're on the topic of Meg, What's your obsession with her?"
INTERESTING
The longer this letter goes on, the more insane it starts to sound. This doesn't sound like a person begging for a reconciliation, it sounds like a person seeking to blame others. Maybe he has good reason to? I don't know, because he isn't explaining it very well. Then again, maybe when he wrote it he didn't expect to have to make it public? But, then, why the political posturing about Meg?
Honestly, it sounds like a bunch of Crybulling. That's basically when you complain that you're a victim, but throw a bunch of accusations and attacks against those who you complain about and expect that you'll get your way when maybe there's more to it than that.
Okay. So Bruderman's letter is...Unhelpful. If I were grading it, it'd get at best a C-; and that depends on me knowing background information that wasn't well presented here.
On to another document, one I hope will do me better.
NuHealth's Press Release - It's...It's Bad, Y'all.
......Fuck, they don't have a date. There's no date! NO! DATE! Whoever this press person is? In my own personal opinion, they need to be fired for gross incompetence. You always date a press release. Why? Because some hack-job journalist (meee!) might stop by and have questions.
I feel like I can't even use this because I don't know what time it's referring to. Like, do I really want to spend my limited time in this life reading documents that won't even tell me up-front what time period they're relevant to?
And you know what? I tried. I went back a page to their Press Release page. I tried the 'ol Ctrl + F feature to MAYBE match a headline to an article and get a date. And you know what I got? Nothing!
So as far as I'm concerned, this press release may as well not have any context.
Basically put: This article accuses New York State of withholding roughly one BILLION dollars. But since I can't even find a date for it, I'm not reading through some poorly written schlock to find out specific details that, based on my first read, don't seem to really exist.
Sorry, but if you want your argument heard, do a halfway-decent job of presenting it.
Seriously. You can reach out to me as a consultant. I am available as a writer. I don't even charge that much.
We're zero-for-two. But I still have to try, don't I? Consider what's next under protest.
The big takeaway I get from the article is that NUMC is lawyering up (HEY their demand letter is dated November 19th, 2024!!!) to sue New York State for inappropriately withheld money. Yep? Yep. Got it.
Enough with this nonsense. Let's look at some independent reporting and cross-examine what we've got here versus what others are on about.
What News Agencies Are Saying
Let's start with the Long Island Herald's Jordan Vallone. What a shock - he put a date on his article! Amazing! It's almost like you can just do that.
We're looking back to December 13th, 2024.
Vallone pretty much sums up what I've been able to piece together. NUMC wants $1.06 billion plus interest because, basically, they were denied funds they were entitled to
As per Vallone, Governor Kathy Hochul's Long Island Press Secretary, Gordon Tepper, said that Hochul is trying to work with Nassau on the issue of funding. Sooooo nothing, because I know how Hochul operates (Warning: Link is political - like even more than this mess), and that's Hochul-speak for "nothing."
But wait! There's more! Here's a December 11th, 2024 article by the Newsday Editorial Board. It states that NUMC has debts of over $300,000,000 - yes, $300 million! - to the state. The board attacks Bruderman's management, arguing that his aggressive approach is a "doesn't want you to know" one designed to keep your mind off the fact that the aforementioned Megan Ryan was hired in a questionable manner. INTERESTING.
It's also interesting that, right after this article came out in Newsday, Nassau County switched its Paper of Record from Newsday to the New York Post. Almost like the editorial board said something Blakeman didn't like, so he switched to a far-right rag?
Interesting.
So it seems like this fight is on a lot of levels. NUMC is hiring people that apparently aren't qualified (like, sayyyy, Bruderman, himself? Megan Ryan? Maybe others?), is fighting these battles to some victories in court, and ultimately this is a dispute about who owes who money conducted by people who at least, on the surface, appear to be politically inclined.
I tried to find some kind of response letter from NYS DOH to NUMC, but I couldn't find one. In fact, none of the State's replies to NUMC seem to be showing up. All I found was a much earlier letter dated May 16th, 2024, from Bruderman and Ryan replying to an un-findable letter from Commissioner James V. McDonald with...A lot of the stuff I really would have appreciated from them on the website set up to 'save' NUMC! What?! WHAT?! What is this Kafkaesque madness!?
This information should be front-and-center with your appeal to the populace to save the hospital! This is literally the first thing I looked for, and I had to do a random Google search to find letters SENT TO YOU to find one YOU sent to THEM (because why would NYS do any informing of its own!? Under Hochul? BWAHAWHA!) MONTHS ago?!
It's fucking dystopian.
Meanwhile, patients suffer from the lack of funding - and that's when political fights are supposed to end, and they haven't.
We need solutions, not bullshit.
So What Should Be Done?
Medicare For All, honestly. Here's my write-up of that. It'd solve this entire problem.
If not Medicare For All, then maybe the New York Health Act. What a shock! I've written about that, too! It'd also solve this problem, and NYS Senator Jabari Brisport says there are more co-sponsors of the bill than votes needed.
But if we can't get an actually useful healthcare system in place to take care of sick people? What should be done about the present situation?
Honestly, both sides need to shut the fuck up and sit down at a negotiating table. We need to have a non-partisan committee of some healthcare experts (NOT insurance people, mind you - actual healthcare policy experts) sit down and figure out who owes what.
- Was NUMC robbed?
- How much does NUMC owe New York State when you consider what it was supposed to get versus what it has gotten?
- What can be done immediately to ensure NUMC does not stop operating?
- What can be done to ensure local control while also not allowing NUMC and its patients to be political footballs run by a big-ticket donor appointee with absolutely no relevant experience?
These are all questions I can't answer without hours upon hours of digging through documents. My current word count is...1931 (Prior to revisions; it's gone up).
My hands hurt. I have none of the documents I'd need to look at, such as budgets, contracts, and sections of law. I wouldn't even know where to start, because I am not a healthcare expert. I know about enough about healthcare to get through my personal and familial medical problems, including "Sitting in this chair is bad for my neck."
I'm a guy who isn't in either of the two big political parties (sorry, Dems; I left when so many of you abandoned Trans people - I guess I'm "Far Left," after all, even though I'm really just a European Center-Left guy).
On one level, it's the same old politics, too: Republicans are loud and shouting about everything not being 100% in their favor, and Democrats refusing to say anything at all because that MIGHT make them have to stick to a position and that's scary.
I'm just a guy who can read, who understands fundamentals, who asks questions, and who knows how to date a fucking document. Which I guess means I'm better qualified than some of the people currently doing the job for NUMC, but, so can your average middle-school student, thus I've digressed.
But the bottom line is that this certainly appears, from every scrap of information I've been able to find so far, like a political fight where patients lose. Hochul is her typical silent self - none of my searches for statements really turned much up from NYS's perspective. In fact, as stated previously, they've only turned out more statements from NUMC that'd have actually been useful IF NUMC chose to use them to make their arguments instead of tirades and anger.
As for "Save NUMC?"
How about NUMC save itself by being less dumbassedly combative and more constructive?
How about Hochul do her job for a change (Although she seems to think that's giving hundreds of millions of dollars to billionaires for stadiums, so maybe she should delegate a professional) and actually be forthright with the people about the problem?
And how about we, the people, hold our electeds and unelecteds alike accountable by not letting partisan hacks get through primaries, and not voting for them if they do.
Jesse Pohlman is a recovering Social Studies and ELA Teacher from Freeport, NY. He still lives in Nassau County and still cares deeply about those who are sick and unable to get healthcare. He also thinks we need to take the profit motive out of healthcare. Go figure. His website is at the attached link, in case you want to read more. He is most frequently found at his Bluesky account.
