NYSNA Nurses at the Brooklyn Hospital Center Bring Their Message to Restore and Secure Health Benefits to the CEO

Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489 
Anne Songcayauon | press@nysna.org | 917-226-8570

NYSNA NURSES AT THE BROOKLYN HOSPITAL CENTER BRING THEIR MESSAGE TO RESTORE AND SECURE HEALTH BENEFITS TO THE CEO  

Hospital Makes Another Payment to Health Benefits After Pressure from NYSNA Nurses and Elected Officials 

Nurses March to CEO’s Home and Demand Hospital Keep Commitment to Restore and Secure All Benefits Into the Future

New York, N.Y.– On Tuesday, March 17, NYSNA nurses at The Brooklyn Health Center, who have been without health insurance for more than 45 days, take their demands to reinstate coverage to CEO Gary Terrinoni’s luxury condo. Nurses have been working without health insurance for more than 45 days, after hospital executives failed to pay into their benefit fund. The Brooklyn Hospital Center has cited financial constraints and requested emergency funds from New York State. The hospital received millions in funding — more than enough to pay for nurses’ health coverage but only made a partial payment that was not enough to restore benefits. On Monday, March 16, after increasing pressure from NYSNA nurses and state and elected officials, hospital executives finally made another necessary partial payment that should finally reinstate nurses’ health benefits in the near term.  

Now NYSNA nurses are demanding hospital administrators follow through on their commitment to restore health coverage, cover nurses’ medical expenses, and continue making  future payments to the benefit fund to keep nurses healthy and able to care for Brooklyn into the future.

While nurses work without health coverage, the CEO and other top executives continue to take home millions of dollars in pay. Together, executives at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, a safety net hospital, made more than $8 million a year in 2024. In 2024, CEO Gary Terrinoni brought in nearly $2 million in executive pay. Terrinoni owns a luxury condo in Brooklyn, a mansion in Pennsylvania and a house in a golf and beach resort community in Delaware. There is no reason why the CEO of a safety-net hospital should be living large while the frontline nurses who care for the Brooklyn community are forced to sacrifice their own health in order to care for patients. 

NYSNA nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center averted a strike earlier this year when management agreed to a fair contract that protects healthcare benefits. Although the hospital promised benefits, they have since reneged on their promise. Nurses have made difficult decisions over the past month and a half. Many have sought out insurance on the ACA Marketplace, others have paid for COBRA coverage, while others are working without any coverage, hoping that the hospital pays their bills. Nurses and their families have put off essential doctor appointments and medications.

The Brooklyn Hospital Center nurse leader Debra Ambrose, RN, said: “It’s been more than 45 days without coverage! My colleagues and I go to work in fear of the worst-case scenario, that we will get sick, injured, hurt, or our families will, and we won’t be able to afford out of pocket expenses. I am relieved that the hospital finally made the needed down payment to restore our health benefits, but we need to continue holding administration accountable, so this does not happen again. CEO Terrinoni is playing dangerous games with the hospital’s finances, and nurses refuse to be pawns!”  

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “When hospitals break their promises to nurses, it’s patients who pay the price. The CEO put the lives of nurses and patients in danger, while mischaracterizing the hospital’s finances to the public. We should all be alarmed that this level of irresponsibility is behind the helm of such an important hospital. Nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center should know that they have the power of NYSNA nurses across the state behind them in this fight.”

“For more than 40 days, nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center have been forced to delay their own care, their children’s care, and critical medical appointments because hospital executives have not honored their commitments. That is wrong,” said New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Brendan Griffith. “It’s wrong for workers, and it’s wrong for patients because nurses need to be able to focus on their work, not worry about whether their own families can get medical care. Brooklyn deserves hospitals that respect the people who make care possible. So today the NYC Labor Movement says clearly to the leadership of The Brooklyn Hospital Center: keep your commitment. Pay what you owe. Restore nurses’ health benefits now.”

Assemblymember Emily Gallagher said, "It is frankly dystopian that nurses at Thee Brooklyn Health Center have gone 40 days without healthcare.  TBHC CEO Gary Terrinoni and top hospital executives made $8 million in 2024. CEO Gary Terrinoni brought in nearly $2 million in executive pay. There is no excuse for nurses--the people who are on the frontlines caring for our communities--not to have their most basic needs met."

Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest said, “I stand with the nurses at Brooklyn Hospital: months of cuts to healthcare access for our nurses are unacceptable. Our community depends on this institution. Healthcare workers should not have to worry about their own families getting sick while they care for ours. Fully fund our healthcare workers and protect the people who rely on them. We will not stop until you do.”

“Healthcare workers should never have to choose between caring for their patients and accessing care for themselves. I stand with NYSNA nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center who, for more than 45 days, have continued to serve this community without the health coverage they rightfully earned,” said New York City Council Member Farah N. Louis. “I call on hospital management to take these concerns and demands seriously, to fully restore and secure nurses’ health benefits without delay, and to honor their commitment to the very professionals who sustain patient care every single day. Our nurses deserve dignity, stability, and respect, and that begins with ensuring they have the coverage and support necessary to care for themselves and their families.”

Frontline nurses are the backbone of patient care in New York City, and losing their healthcare coverage puts nurses and their families at risk. Nurses have now been without coverage for more than 45 days—caring for patients, stabilizing emergencies, and protecting the public’s health—while personally uninsured.  

Earlier this year, nearly 15,000 NYSNA nurses went on the largest strike in New York City history. They won strong contracts that protect nurses and patients.  

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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.