Mayor Heated Over State Decision On Lee Memorial

by Nicole Reome | November 6, 2007 8:46 am

FULTON, NY – The Fulton mayor says he is angry about the state Department of Health’s decision to close inpatient beds and the emergency department at A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital.

Overall, Mayor Daryl Hayden said that he believes state representatives are not looking out for the city of Fulton.

“What are we supposed to do from here?” Hayden said Monday. “All of us have done what we can and the state is still not listening. Where do we go for help?

“It is disgusting that our representatives in Albany do not represent us,” Hayden added.

Hayden said he is not faulting Fulton’s local representatives like Senator Jim Wright and Assemblyman Will Barclay who have come forward and tried to help.

“I think they are doing what they can,” he said. “We are not being represented by the rest, including Eliot Spitzer.”

On Friday, Hayden said he received a call from Dennis Casey, executive director at Lee Memorial, who told him about the letter the hospital received from the state Department of Health[1]. In that letter, the state directed Lee Memorial to comply with recommendations to convert to an outpatient/urgent care facility and close all 67 inpatient beds.

“If they knew what our winters were like here, they wouldn’t be doing this,” Hayden said. “But no one wants to know anything.”

As Fulton works to grow, Hayden said that the city already has what many communities want; a hospital. By closing down critical services such as inpatient care and an emergency room, Hayden said he believes the state is deciding to set Fulton back, rather than helping it grow.

“They don’t want to spend money here,” Hayden said. “I want to know why aren’t we worth as much as people in foreign countries that we are sending money to. They apparently see no need. That makes me sick.”

In the year since the Berger Commission released its recommendations for change at Lee Memorial, the city has sent letters to back the hospital and joined the efforts to keep the hospital untouched. Hayden said he has also been to Albany twice in hopes of meeting with officials who could have a say in the matter, including the governor.

“The bottom line is that Spitzer didn’t want to know us,” Hayden said. “It is apparently more important for illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses than it is for the city of Fulton to have a hospital to keep people alive. That is really sad.

“The ones we need to talk to avoid us,” Hayden added. “It is fine to see us when they are campaigning but not fine when there is a problem.”

Hayden noted that when Spitzer was campaigning for the governor’s seat, he was in Oswego County and told local officials that he would “not forget” this area if he won the position.

“It didn’t take him long to forget,” Hayden said. “But in Central New York, we won’t forget. There will be another election.

“It is one thing for Pataki to give him a knife,” Hayden added. “It is another thing for him to use it.”

At this point, Hayden said all the city can do is hope for the best and support Lee Memorial in any way that it can.

“With all 68 beds gone and no ER, it is going to hurt us,” Hayden said. “We are trying to build Fulton up and our representatives are not working with us. That’s not good for Fulton.”

Hospital officials are holding meetings this week to strategize Lee Memorial’s next steps[2]. Hospital spokesperson Betsy Copps said Monday that the hospital is not giving up its fight against the Berger commission recommendations.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/mayor-heated-over-state-decision-on-lee-memorial/

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