Gov. Hochul boasts about her social-justice record but she is presiding over the alleged rip-off of a safety-net hospital in Nassau County that serves the poorest of the poor.
The Nassau University Medical Center is suing New York for $1.06 billion it claims the state has defrauded from its coffers over the past two decades.
As the only public hospital in the county, 80% of its 275,000 patients are low income, uninsured, as well as on Medicare and Medicaid.
It includes a nursing home and jail infirmary, Long Island’s only burn unit and its largest inpatient psychiatric treatment center.
Despite its vital role, NUMC was a financial basket case losing $180 million a year when Republican Bruce Blakeman was elected as county executive two years ago and asked wealthy businessman Matthew Bruderman to save the hospital as its pro bono chairman.
“It was a dumpster fire,” says Bruderman. Millions of dollars were wasted on embezzlement and patronage jobs.
Bruderman managed to balance the books, extend clinic hours to nights and weekends, and appoint a competent CEO, in a turnaround model that could be replicated across the nation.
But the shocking discovery when he audited the finances was that New York, through a sleight of hand, has not been matching federal funds for Medicaid expenditures as required by law.
Documents seen by The Post reveal a $50 million shortfall in 2024 alone. The hospital alleges that it has been ripped off every year since 2006.
Hochul has to make the hospital whole — or be exposed as a hypocrite.
