It should now be pretty clear from the e-mails previously posted that the idea of placing the new hospital Downtown originated with our local officials (elected and unelected): NOT Albany (the Governor's Upstate czar did not like the idea) and NOT the MVHS Board (they had to be "steered" to Downtown and cajoled with promises that Downtown would be made cost "neutral" compared to the St. Luke's site (i.e., Taxpayers would pay for any additional costs)). So how did we get to where we are now?
Governor Cuomo originally wanted to advance two new state of the art hospitals to demonstrate how health care could be streamlined: one Downstate in Brooklyn, one Upstate in Oneida County.
Mr. Brindisi, to his credit, lobbied for language to ensure that the new "Oneida County" hospital would be convenient to Utica's poor. The legislature's attorneys inserted the "largest population center" language to achieve that objective.
However, they said neither "Downtown Utica" nor "City of Utica," nor even "largest population city" nor "largest population municipality," which would have forced the hospital into Utica. That would have been risky for site selection considering that Utica is only 17 square miles in size. The use of the word "center" does NOT confine the site to one in Utica.
It should not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Governor not only wanted to improve healthcare, but also to demonstrate to the nation that he could accomplish something good for the public. The insistence of Mr. Brindisi, Mr. Picente, Mr. Dimeo, Mr. Palmieri, and the other usual suspects that the hospital had to go Downtown to accomplish "economic development" (NOT a consideration under the hospital legislation) not only places at risk completion of the hospital, but the Governor's reputation as well.
When the only poll that was taken demonstrated that half of the respondents were against placing the hospital Downtown, why would the Governor want to support that? The Governor wants to be known for accomplishing something good, not causing public controversy. A state-of-the-art hospital should not be controversial, but placing it Downtown has made it so.
Insisting that the hospital has to go Downtown is a serious miscalculation by our local officials. You have to question "What were they thinking?".
7 comments:
These are some of the same people who for 20 years have not been able to secure a chip plant in Marcy & even screwed up the Army Corp permit process in the bargain. Now their telling us we need a downtown hospital. And since when does health care go hand in hand with economic development, which is what they're trying to sell us?
What they were thinking is obvious; they were thinking of all of the goodies that go along with an urban renewal project including keeping EDGE busy and in the dough for a decade, at least. Lot's of people will make lots of money over this deal while the taxpayer will get fleeced, as usual. Anonymous is correct; it is not a medical project.
If it were a gang of thugs, everyone would be up in arms. The fact that it's Brindisi, griffo, Picente, and Palmieri doesn't make it any less of an assault!
If politics were not an issue, the Governor's wishes would be best served if the hospital were located in the center of Oneida County. At one time I proposed that the new hospital and its associated medical center(s) be located in the Town of Westmoreland. Westmoreland is located in the center of Oneida County and easily accessible to residents of the Utica/Rome areas as well as the neighboring cities of Oneida and Sheryl. It would also be convenient for other upstate residents who reside further away to take advantage of the "State of the Art" medical facility due to its NYS Thruway exit. The three cons are: 1) It would be more expensive to construct it off of the present Saint Luke's campus. 2) The political disadvantage of the Town of Westmoreland location is that it is out of Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi's District. 3) Locating the new Hospital in Westmoreland would come at an additional cost in terms of providing a safe and timely public transportation center in Westmoreland, albeit it would accomplish the main goal of the Governor, to provide state of the art medical attention to the underprivileged and refugee population of Upstate New York. It will be interesting to see if politics will trump the wishes of the Governor as well as the wishes of the population the new hospital is intended to serve.
One aspect of the information found in the messages is the arrogance of the EDGE head. For a guy who leads an organization with a near zero performance record in attracting new jobs here over a more than 20 year period, he has a lot of nerve calling Herkimer County officials dumb. More disturbing is that this guy, DeMeo does not seem to be accountable to anyone, including his own board.
No, Dimeo & EDGE aren't held accountable. Actually, Picente & his board aren't either. All long as the voters keep electing this crowd they'll continue to do as they damn well please. There's no accountability because the taxpayer's aren't demanding it. So we have craft beer museums, an Auditorium propped up by customers of the MVWA, & a hospital about to be built which will end up costing Utica & county taxpayers millions of dollars. Me? I'm moving out of O.C. Yep, like thousands before me, I've seen & had enough of this crap!
The deal is done. It is clear that the downtown location was tied to the $300 million of state money. Brindisi and Griffo steered it there with the support of Pacenti. The money obviously dictated the hospital groups' choice. $300 million of our money to them speaks loudly.
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