Board Roles and Responsibilities

Last year in the 2025 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul and the state legislature created the Downstate Community Advisory Board to establish a reasonable, scalable, and fiscally responsible plan for the financial health, viability and sustainability of SUNY Downstate. The recommendations may not exceed more than the available $750 million capital investment.

To develop its recommendations, the Downstate Community Advisory Board must complete a study that considers the following factors:

• Overall healthcare service delivery trends and models;
• Historic and projected financials for the hospital and the campus;
• Current state of building infrastructure and capital needs;
• Community healthcare needs, outcomes, and health disparities;
• Existing inpatient and outpatient service offerings and health outcomes;
• Capacity and availability of inpatient and outpatient services in the broader primary and secondary service areas;
• Efficiency of operations and quality of healthcare services benchmarking; and
• Training needs for students and employment outcomes.

Further, community input is a critical piece of the Downstate Community Advisory Board process. The advisory board will hold no less than three public hearings to solicit input and recommendations from any interested party, including from healthcare experts, county health departments, community-based organizations, state and regional healthcare industry associations, labor unions, experts in hospital operations, and other interested parties. Click the “Public Hearings” page for more information.

The Downstate Community Advisory Board must submit written recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by April 1, 2025.

More Info:

• See Press Release: Governor Hochul Announces Appointees to SUNY Downstate Community Advisory board
• See Section 996 of the NYS Executive Law: Downstate Community Advisory Board Charge & Statute