The Oneonta paper has a story in today's edition about Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's crackdown on hospitals in the New York City watershed. Assemblyman Clifford Crouch (R-Guilford) raises the looming spectre of the hospitals losing their $1 million loans from the Catskill Watershed Corporation because of the A.G.'s actions:
“I am requesting that all of the consent orders and enforcement actions be rescinded and any fines or settlement be waived and/or reimbursed immediately,” Crouch wrote. “Implementation of these unnecessary stipulations coupled with the loss of such loans will not only create a fiscal crisis, but significantly increase the cost of health care at these facilities, and could result in a catastrophic health care crisis for those individuals who rely on them when these hospitals and nursing homes are forced to close their doors.”
This is perhaps a little overly dramatic. It seems highly unlikely the CWC would do something as drastic as calling in the loans. In any case, we should find out today what their response will be: They're taking it up at their regular meeting this afternoon.
Our earlier coverage: Backlash against hospitals' punishment (1/30/10), Cuomo's strike at hospitals shocks watershed board (1/29/10), Cuomo vs. the hospitals: A little context (1/29/10).
Update: According to CWC spokesperson Diane Galusha, the board has postponed the decision of what to do about the hospitals' loans for a future meeting.
