By:  Benyamin Davidsons

State health officials are trying to force hospitals and other medical providers to complete “equity’’ reports to substantiate spending on projects.  As reported by the NY Post, critics are decrying the move as yet another misdirected “woke” experiment.

The proposed rule would require medical entities to get an independent “health equity assessment” when applying to open any new facility as well as before cutting or consolidating existing services in neighborhoods.  State health officials maintain that this required assessment will help shed light on the impact a change will have on underserved New Yorkers–including racial and ethnic minorities, poor residents, immigrants, people with disabilities and the elderly.

“The proposed regulation, which is the result of a law signed in 2021, is just the latest example of how New York State and the Department of Health are working to end systemic inequities that have led to measurable health disparities for traditionally underserved populations across the state,” New York Health Department spokesman Cort Ruddy said in a statement.

The state’s new equity assessment regulation would apply to hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, diagnostic treatment centers and other health facilities which seek state regulatory approvals for proposed mergers, acquisitions, closings, downsizing, new construction or changes in ownership.  “The purpose of the health equity impact assessment is to demonstrate how a proposed project affects the accessibility and delivery of health care services to enhance health equity and contribute to mitigating health disparities in the facility’s service area, specifically for medically underserved groups,” the planned new regulation states.

As per the Post, critics are calling the proposed rule woke, costly and counterproductive. “The Democrats and the progressives are creating tyrannies that don’t exist — it defies logic,” said Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar, who served on a Brooklyn hospital board and is familiar with the application process.  “The current review process takes the community’s needs into account. The racial aspect has always been taken into account. The application process should be based on medical need. Instead, they are turning hospitals into social-service experiments.”

The costs associated with getting an independent appraisals from a private firm would fall upon the hospital or medical provider.  “The projected costs associated with performing such an assessment are not easily identifiable, as they will vary greatly depending on the size, scope and complexity of a facility’s proposed project,’’ the proposal states, as published in the state register.  “However, the Department anticipates these costs could range anywhere from $500 to upwards of $30,000. These costs are unavoidable in the regulations, as [the law] requires health equity impact assessments to be performed by independent entities.”

The planned rules are to go through a 60-day public comment period, and then an agency review before consideration for final adoption, said the Health Department. The policy aims to combat decades of systemic racism which health officials and liberal politicians say is ingrained in the medical system and grew during the COVID-19 crisis.

Gov. Kathy Hochul previously declared racism a public-health crisis.  “For far too long, communities of color in New York have been held back by systemic racism and inequitable treatment,” Hochul said in December 2021. Two months earlier, the New York City Board of Health had similarly declared racism a public-health crisis, setting the stage for legislation such as this.