A bill introduced in the wake of the Rivington House scandal aimed at preventing future nursing home closures has been rejected by the State Senate's Health Committee.
The "Rivington Act," named for the Lower East Side nursing home for HIV/AIDS patients that in 2015 was shuttered and sold to condo developers, would have created a community-driven vetting process to make it more difficult for an operator to close a nursing home.
The bill would have required the Department of Health commissioner to disseminate a report to city and state officials as well as the local community board assessing the impact the closure would have on the community. Community members and elected officials would have then made recommendations to DOH before the agency made a decision on the plan to close.
It was first introduced by State Sen. Daniel Squadron, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon last year.
But the bill was voted down Tuesday afternoon by the Senate's Health Committee after committee chair State Sen. Kemp Hannon recommended a "No" vote, noting the bill was not "near shape" to become law.
"I don’t think it's in anywhere near shape to possibly become law, so I would recommend a 'No' vote, but if Senator Squadron’s going to pursue — and he’s not a shy one about pursuing — pursue the discussion we may see this bill again," said Hannon at Tuesday's committee hearing.
"It's defeated, but we will see it again," Hannon said after the vote.
1 comment:
They won't shut off this revenue stream. Look how much it made for the mayor!!
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