Letter to Editor

March 1, 2004

Letters to the Editor
Post-Standard
1 Clinton Square
Syracuse, NY 13202-1007

To the Editor:

Your editorial of Feb. 20 ("Cutting the Cord") comes down strongly on both sides of the privatization issue: Consider privatizing Upstate Medical University and SUNY's other teaching hospitals but don't curtail any services. You just can't have it both ways!

As the editorial accurately points out, Upstate and the SUNY hospitals in Brooklyn and Stony Brook provide quality health care to large portions of the community. For instance, the burn and trauma centers at Upstate offer services not available elsewhere in the area. For the rural poor in Syracuse, the urban poor in Brooklyn and those in need on Long Island, the SUNY hospitals often offer the only health care services available to them.

These hospitals are nationally known for cutting-edge research and for the excellent medical education they provide. Who's to say these vital components of the SUNY hospitals' mission would be continued under private ownership?

Proponents of privatization assume that the hospitals can be operated much more efficiently. That's not necessarily the case. In fact, an independent audit conducted just two years ago found that, under SUNY, the hospitals were well run and well managed. Why tamper with success?

The reality is, SUNY's three teaching hospitals are healthier than ever. They continue to conduct groundbreaking research, train first-class health-care professionals, and treat the indigent and other citizens who, otherwise, might not have access to quality medical services. Privatization would put all that in jeopardy. Undermining the mission of these unique hospitals is not a cure for the state's fiscal iIls.

Sincerely,

William E. Scheuerman
President, United University Professions