NUMC is on the verge of big changes. Will Nassau's GOP get on board?

More than a year after the state overhauled the governance board at Nassau University Medical Center, Republican county lawmakers still haven't appointed anyone to the 11-member panel, even as it's set to make major decisions about the hospital's future.

Republicans from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman to the county legislature's presiding officer, Howard Kopel, have instead protested the takeover, lambasting the state over what they considered an illegal power grab. It's also among the most visible battles between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Blakeman, her gubernatorial challenger this November who's asserted the state's ultimate plan is to close the hospital. 

State Democrats have dismissed those claims as political fodder, contending their new leadership was necessary to stop the hospital from bleeding even more taxpayer dollars and improve patient care. 

The friction comes as the board must approve a plan to determine how to help the struggling hospital. To be sure, the plan could have a profound impact on patients, staff and Nassau's budget. And while the plan isn't yet available, experts and hospital officials have suggested it could include recommendations to sell or lease real estate, trim services, partner with other health systems and find a new operator for the nursing home. 

"We have to move forward with or without them," said Richard Kessel, chairman of Nassau Health Care Corporation, the entity that owns and operates the 833-bed main hospital, the A. Holly Patterson nursing home, inmate healthcare and community health centers. "We are going to have a plan of action by Dec. 1 and they are really not going to have any say in the future of the hospital."

Despite their objections, Republicans and Nassau County are tethered to NUMC through various financial and legal obligations. And, with Republicans controlling all countywide offices and town supervisor seats, their lack of input at a pivotal moment in its history means taxpayers are supporting a local, safety-net hospital without full representation.

County officials must still factor the hospital into Nassau's operating budget, pay back $57.3 million in the hospital's old loans and set conditions on any future use of the East Meadow property, according to agreements and deeds held by the county and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority. The hospital treats jail inmates, the indigent and first responders. The county leases space there to house the medical examiner's office, veterans affairs agency and labs for public health testing. 

'Abandoning the people'

Kessel, who was appointed by Hochul, a Democrat, a few months ago to govern during the turnaround period, said he welcomed input from the Republicans. 

Blakeman and Kopel, who doubles as the Republican majority leader, recently told Newsday they would not fill the vacant seats on the hospital board, a public vow they first made in June 2025.

In Nassau, Republicans hold all countywide offices as well as the majority in the county legislature. Blakeman and Kopel get two appointments each; Democratic Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton gets one appointment, which she has filled. 

But there's been no formal discussion raised in the county legislature over how constituents might be impacted by any changes at NUMC.

Legis. Olena Nicks (D-Uniondale), ranking member of the county legislature's health and social services committee, called the refusal by Nassau Republicans to take their seats on the board "a dereliction of duty."

She said if Blakeman and county Republicans believe the hospital's state-appointed board is going in the wrong direction, they don't seem to be doing anything about it by making sure all stakeholders are represented in public meetings and decisions. As a second lieutenant in the Uniondale Fire Department, Nicks said she worries that the county's only burn unit and emergency department most frequented by Nassau's first responders could be in jeopardy.    

"It's abandoning the people of Nassau County, who he [Blakeman] continues to say he supports and he stands up for," said Nicks, who noted she has called on health committee chairwoman Legis. Rose Walker (R-Hicksville) to meet on various county health topics, including NUMC.

No plans to participate

Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle reiterated claims that Hochul "illegally took control of NUMC," despite the restructuring of the board approved by state lawmakers in May 2025. He said Blakeman, who trails the governor in the polls, "does not want to be part of her [Hochul's] long-term goal to close the hospital." 

"County Executive Blakeman will resolve all outstanding issues when he becomes governor," Boyle told Newsday without elaborating on Blakeman's own turnaround plan should he win the gubernatorial election.

Kopel, who as the presiding officer controls which bills get voted on, said he doesn't believe there's much influence local lawmakers can have at this point. 

"Gov. Hochul and Albany Democrats cut hundreds of millions in state funding from NUMC, seized complete control of its administration, and shut down the maternity ward that serves Nassau’s most vulnerable. No appointment I make can undo that damage. I will not lend legitimacy to this takeover," Kopel said in an emailed statement.

But state Democrats say they had to step in. 

The hospital deferred basic maintenance of its facilities, racked up deficits in the hundreds of millions annually and accrued $1.4 billion in debt. Another $110 million in newly discovered losses this year was recently reported as a result of underestimating the cost of medical malpractice payouts against its self-managed, Cayman Island insurance account. 

Big decisions in East Meadow

Longtime county officials have compared this moment in the hospital's history to when Republican Gov. George Pataki and Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta in the late 1990s agreed to spin off NUMC from a county hospital under the Department of Health to a public benefit corporation.

Blakeman was the presiding officer of the county legislature and Nassau was in dire financial straits. Ownership of the hospital, nursing home and other medical facilities as well as the East Meadow property was transferred into the corporation, known as NHCC, shifting the cost burden away from the county. 

Now, health system leaders are grappling with whether to sell off the land, close or privatize the nursing home and jail inmate care. CEO Tom Stokes earlier this month floated the idea of possibly building a brand new main hospital, a move that could be more cost-effective than repairing the aging buildings. 

Assemb Michaelle Solages (D-Valley Stream), who represents many of the communities the hospital serves, said the state had no choice but to step in to correct the deficiencies, which she blames on the prior Republican-led mismanagement.

"We saw what was happening at the hospital and we couldn't just sit by and have our constituents not get access to healthcare or get poor care," Solages said. "If the Republicans really cared they would be all in. They would want to be holding us accountable." 

But Kessel said he doesn't expect county Republicans to participate in the process between now and December. 

"Election year politics are going on. They think this is some political strategy on the governor's part — it's not." 

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.