Press Release  [ Home ] [ Return to Press Releases ]

Gloversville...

Laurence Kelly, president and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home, said today "we are shocked at Governor Pataki's veto of the health care items in the proposed legislative budget. Under the Governor's budget, Littauer will receive 1.1 million dollars less than the proposed legislative budget. These cuts will greatly diminish our ability to provide healthcare services to our community. We are grateful to Senator Farley and Assemblyman Butler who helped pass the legislative budget that the Governor has now vetoed. We will be calling on them to support an anticipated override of the vetoes." 

Among the Governor's vetoes are spending increases for emergency room visits. "Hospital Medicaid emergency room (ER) reimbursement rates have been frozen for 15 years", explains Mr. Kelly. "The legislature's proposal would have increased that rate significantly, however, it is still below the hospital's cost of providing those services. We have had to absorb the tremendous increases in the costs of ER services that have occurred over the last 15 years." 

"Our legislators have recognized the implications of these cuts to Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home, as well as every other facility in the state, and we thank them for their support in trying to maintain vital healthcare services in our communities."