Schumer calls for hospital support

PENN YAN--Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer visited Soldiers and Sailors Hospital Wednesday, Aug. 19 where he called upon Republicans in Congress and the administration of President Donald Trump to fulfill funding obligations and pass additional federal aid for hospitals. Schumer, who had given a speech during the Democratic National Convention the evening before, said the needs of rural hospitals such as Soldiers and Sailors had gone unmet during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We all know these are tough times," Schumer said, adding, "Soldiers and Sailors deserves this funding. This is not a handout, these 300 people went all out... so they deserve this money."
Specifically, Schumer said he was pushing for more funds from the already approved $175 billion provider relief fund available for hospitals, reducing Medicare loan interest rates from 10 percent and making loans available regardless of whether previous loans have been paid back or not.
As it stands, Soldiers and Sailors is facing a roughly $3 million deficit despite already having received $3.5 million in federal funding.
"We have to spend up to $40,000 a week on testing everyone in the hospital, and multiplied over the course of the year that is millions of dollars," Dr. Jose Acevedo, president and CEO of Finger Lakes Health said before Schumer arrived.
As a result, Acevedo stated the hospital has had to terminate roughly 45 positions over the last six months, with 20 more in jeopardy in the fall if more funding isn't imminent. Finger Lakes Health facilities employ roughly 1,600 people across the region.
The financial impact has not come from the hospital directly treating COVID patients, but instead stems from the need to do constant testing and the stress the national health care system has been placed under.
Acevedo said the hospital is not looking for a handout, instead it is asking the federal government to, at the very least, allow the $60 billion of the originally approved $175 billion provider relief fund that remains to be dispersed.
"We are talking about the health of Yates County as a whole," Acevedo said. "If we do not get this money our ability to treat (the surrounding population) will not be the same."
Along with the cost of COVID testing, Acevedo said the price for personal protection equipment has also gone up, resulting in a general numbers crunch not just for his hospital, but hospitals across the region.
"I am grateful that Sen. Schumer visited our little hospital in upstate New York to try to bring attention to this," Acevedo mentioned.
After the press conference, Schumer acknowledged while he has plenty of national responsibilities at the moment, he has no interest in reducing his visits throughout the state.
"(My mentor) told me that my legacy would be to protect New York hospitals, and I have worked very hard to do that," Schumer said.
Schumer added he has always made a point to ensure funding for rural hospitals, which he said has become even more important under current circumstances. He said he is concerned with was the fact hospitals and states have been competing with one another to obtain the necessary equipment for personal protection and testing, meaning smaller hospitals in rural areas, who have less purchasing power, have been finding it difficult to obtain what they need.
"Soldiers and Sailors has not yet received enough of the federal emergency aid that I specifically negotiated into the CARES Act and fought for in the Interim Corona 3.5 package," Schumer said.
With COVID causing many in urban areas to rethink where they live, Schumer said Yates could become an attractive option for people looking to leave more congested areas.
"But one of the first things that people look for is a strong (medical infrastructure)," Schumer said.