ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Judge extends restraining order to keep LICH open for care
Elected NYSNA leader at LICH Herdley Hill, RN, rallies in the snow with a hundred supporters before the court hearing. (Click photo for larger image) Dear NYSNA nurse,
It’s a victory for all New York patients: today New York Supreme Court judge Johnny Lee Baynes extended the restraining order to stop SUNY from moving forward with their plan to close LICH.
LICH and Interfaith Medical Center are open for care!
But our fight is not over. The restraining order is still temporary. The judge can rule any day on our case.
We’ve got to keep doing everything we can to keep Brooklyn hospitals open for care. Only a powerful movement that unites caregivers, patients, and community members can keep our hospitals open.
The state Department of Health still has to approve any plan to close LICH. And right now, SUNY is barred from talking to them. The Department of Health needs to hear from us.
Come to Albany this Tuesday, March 12 to deliver thousands of petitions to Health Commssioner Shah. E-mail our NYSNA staff member Caitlin Boston to get more details. And you can download a flier HERE.
Buses, vans, and carloads are coming from Staten Island, Long Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and many points upstate.
Every day we keep LICH and Interfaith open, we save lives.
If SUNY had their way, LICH would already be closed. They didn’t count on us. In two short months, our union has led the way and created a powerful movement. Just this morning, in heavy snow, over a hundred people rallied in front of the court house. 1199SEIU and the Concerned Physicians for LICH were there. City Council Members Steven Levin, Leticia James, and Brad Lander, and State Senator Daniel Squadron and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined us. New York Communities for Change, the National Action Network, and the Cobble Hill Association brought community supporters.
We are setting the stage to win safe staffing ratios, good contracts and benefits for all public and private sector nurses, and healthcare for all New Yorkers.
This victory is the first of many. Take the next step. Join us on Albany this Tuesday, March 12. E-mail caitlin.boston@nysna.org and let us know you’re coming.
In solidarity,
Jill Furillo, RN, NYSNA Executive Director
The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for hundreds of thousands of frontline nurses. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses.