§ 2825-A — Health care facility transformation program: Kings county project

§ 2825-a. Health care facility transformation program: Kings county\nproject. 1. A Kings county health care facility transformation program\nis hereby established under the joint administration of the commissioner\nand the president of the dormitory authority of the state of New York\nfor the purpose of strengthening and protecting continued access to\nhealth care services in communities. The program shall provide capital\nfunding in support of projects that replace inefficient and outdated\nfacilities as part of a merger, consolidation, acquisition or other\nsignificant corporate restructuring activity intended to create a\nfinancially sustainable system of care. The issuance of any bonds or\nnotes hereunder shall be subject to the approval of the director of the\ndivision of the budget, and any projects funded through the issuance of\nbonds or notes hereunder shall be approved by the New York state public\nauthorities control board, as required under section fifty-one of the\npublic authorities law.\n 2. The commissioner and the president of the authority shall enter\ninto an agreement, subject to approval by the director of the budget,\nand subject to section sixteen hundred eighty-r of the public\nauthorities law, for the purposes of awarding, distributing, and\nadministering the funds made available pursuant to this section. Such\nfunds may be distributed by the commissioner and the president of the\nauthority for capital grants to general hospitals, residential health\ncare facilities, diagnostic and treatment centers, primary care\nproviders, and home care providers, certified or licensed pursuant to\narticle thirty-six of this chapter, for capital non-operational works or\npurposes that support the purposes set forth in this section. A copy of\nsuch agreement, and any amendments thereto, shall be provided to the\nchair of the senate finance committee, the chair of the assembly ways\nand means committee, and the director of the division of budget no later\nthan thirty days prior to the release of a request for applications for\nfunding under this program. Projects awarded under section twenty-eight\nhundred twenty-five of this article shall not be eligible for grants or\nawards made available under this section.\n 3. Notwithstanding section one hundred sixty-three of the state\nfinance law or any inconsistent provision of law to the contrary, up to\nseven hundred million dollars of the funds appropriated for this program\nshall be awarded without a competitive bid or request for proposal\nprocess for capital grants to health care providers (hereafter\n"applicants") located in the county of Kings.\n (a) Eligible applicants shall serve communities whose residents are\nexperiencing significant levels of health care disparities and health\ncare needs compared to other communities within the county of Kings as\nevidenced by:\n (i) a high number of Medicaid enrollees and uninsured individuals;\n (ii) elevated blood lead level rates among children, high rates of\ndiabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, obesity, infant death or\npremature birth, heart failure, behavioral health conditions, substance\nabuse;\n (iii) low levels of income, high rates of unemployment, distressed\nhousing conditions, and poor nutritional status;\n (iv) other risk factors as determined by the commissioner and the\npresident of the authority; and\n (b) Such eligible applicant shall:\n (i) (A) have a loss from operations for each of the three consecutive\npreceding years as evidenced by audited financial statements;\n (B) have a negative fund balance or negative equity position in each\nof the three preceding years as evidenced by audited financial\nstatements; and\n (C) have a current ratio of less than 1:1 for each of three\nconsecutive preceding years; or\n (ii) be deemed by the commissioner and president of the authority to\nbe a provider that fulfills or will fulfill an unmet health care need\nfor acute inpatient, outpatient, primary or residential health care\nservices in a community.\n 4. In determining awards for eligible applicants under this section,\nthe commissioner and the president of the authority shall consider\ncriteria including, but not limited to:\n (a) the extent to which the proposed capital project will contribute\nto the long term sustainability of the applicant or preservation of\nessential health services in the community or communities served by the\napplicant;\n (b) the extent to which the proposed project or purpose is aligned\nwith delivery system reform incentive payment ("DSRIP") program goals\nand objectives;\n (c) the relationship between the proposed capital project and\nidentified community need;\n (d) the extent that the proposed capital project furthers the\ndevelopment of primary care and other outpatient services;\n (e) the extent to which the proposed capital project benefits Medicaid\nenrollees and uninsured individuals;\n (f) the extent to which the applicant has engaged the community\naffected by the proposed capital project and the manner in which\ncommunity engagement has shaped such capital project; and\n (g) the extent to which the proposed capital project addresses\npotential risk to patient safety and welfare.\n 5. The department shall provide a report on a quarterly basis to the\nchairs of the senate finance, assembly ways and means, senate health and\nassembly health committees. Such reports shall be submitted no later\nthan sixty days after the close of the quarter, and shall conform to the\nreporting requirements of subdivision twenty of section twenty-eight\nhundred seven of this article, as applicable.\n