B-roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Beam Signing of New Hospital in Chautauqua County

Governor Kathy Hochul joined hospital leadership, community stakeholders and local officials today for a beam signing ceremony at the site for the new Northern Chautauqua Hospital, which will open in Fredonia in 2029. Today's announcement builds on Governor Hochul's historic investments in New York's health care system through significant capital and operating support that strengthen safety net hospitals statewide, in addition to securing the largest Medicaid rate increases in decades.

B-ROLL of the Governor's Affordable Housing Announcement is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Hello, Chautauqua County. It is great to be back to see all of you, and please sit down. I am so happy to be back here for a thousand reasons, because there's nothing more beautiful than Western New York in the summer, and that cool breeze coming off the lake is so refreshing, and just a reminder of this area that I've called home and still call home, how special it is to me.

And I want to thank a lot of people who also care deeply about this area, and have worked closely with me for years to make sure that this area has everything it needs particularly, particularly world-class, high-quality healthcare. So let me introduce Don Boyd, the CEO of Kaleida Health, who's joined us, and thank him for his amazing partnership - give him a round of applause - to help make it all happen. Thank you for being here. Ken Morris, the CEO of Brooks Hospital, has joined us as well. Ken Morris, give him a round of applause. He's your CEO here.

I spent 14 years in local government right up the road in Hamburg, and I want to give a special shout-out to one of my favorite local officials in the state, Mayor Mike Ferguson, the village of Fredonia. He has been a great, great champion working on so many policies, coming all the way to Albany to be the voice of small communities, and he is powerful, and I thank him for that. A county executive who we were in the trenches with, dealing with the pandemic particularly, and I thank him for being such a good ally for us here in Chautauqua County, and that is PJ Wendell, our county executive. PJ Wendell. All of our partners in local government, the labor unions representing Brooks Hospital, 1199, SEIU, and NYSNA. Let's give a round of applause to the men and women who make it all happen.

So, we have a little problem. We're finding that Washington has been basically defunding our hospitals. Why do I know this? Because about a year ago, we found out that New York State would receive about $10 billion less in healthcare dollars, and have to figure it out on our own. That hurt our hospitals directly, our nursing homes, people who are benefiting from subsidies to be able to cover prescription drugs - which were just eliminated last week, the subsidies - their health insurance. And when people aren't insured, what do they do? They still go to the hospital. They're still getting in car accidents. They're still having babies, but there's no insurance, and that's a big hit for our hospitals as well. So this is the dynamic that we found ourselves with last summer.

But while Washington may be defunding hospitals, here in New York, we're building hospitals. We believe in our hospitals. We build them in big cities, and we build them in small towns, and we build them right here in Chautauqua County. And today, we're finally taking a big step toward delivering the hospital that this community has deserved. And it wouldn't be possible without the people who are here with us today.

As I mentioned, people brought the attention to us. This hospital was aging. It needed more. It was not up to date, and they needed help. But they also needed a partner. But for a long time, nothing happened. The cries for help fell on deaf ears. But when you get someone from Buffalo sitting in the governor's office, maybe things are a little different, because I know about these hospitals. I know about these small communities, and I know about the stresses they're under, and I know what Albany can do to take that stress off, and it just wasn't happening before. No one pushed it forward. No one made it a priority, and I said, "That era of empty promises is over." And I said, "I'm going to step up." My team stepped up, and we'll build this hospital and protect healthcare for generations to come.

As you know, I've talked about my knowledge of rural hospitals and healthcare for a long time. I served in Congress in one of the most rural districts in the state. I'm sorry it didn't have Chautauqua County. I probably would've still been there if I'd had Chautauqua County. I'm happy though. No, don't worry about me. But I represented Erie County and about seven or eight really rural areas, and I visited the hospitals. I was in close touch with them, and now I see all the stress that they're under. The lower reimbursements, the rising costs of drugs and equipment, the staffing shortages, how hard it is to recruit doctors, healthcare professionals, and nurses to the more rural areas.

That's not just here, it's statewide. But also still reeling from the financial challenges of COVID, and now again, these healthcare cuts out of Washington. And I'm sorry to say this, but between 2010 and 2021, 136 rural hospitals shut their doors across the country. That didn't mean that people didn't need healthcare. Babies are still being born. People still got into car accidents. But there's no place to go. And when you shut down a rural hospital, the distance to the next one is enormous. It's not like closing a hospital in Manhattan, and you go around the corner or take a quick subway train and there's another one. When rural hospitals close, people's lives are in danger. The nearest hospital can be hours away - at least an hour from here to Buffalo, or here to Erie, Pennsylvania. Someone lives in Fredonia, Dunkirk - your lives matter as much as they do in Manhattan and Albany. I want you to hear that directly from me.

And our healthcare investments must reflect that. That's why I fought for $124 million in state funding to build this hospital, more than half of the total project cost. And when it opens in 2029, and I always ask, are we on schedule? Ken? Ken? Okay. We're on schedule. You heard it here. When it finally opens in 2029, the people of this fabulous beloved county will have the peace of mind they deserve.

And I'll say this: They will not have to drive the 50 minutes to Buffalo unless they need specialized care or 55 minutes to Erie, Pennsylvania, in the middle of an emergency. But also, this is about the professionals whose jobs these are. We are able to protect the 300 jobs that are so important. Those who stood on the front lines of COVID, those who leave their homes every single day to keep our families safe and alive. You protect all of us, and I've always, always honored people in the healthcare profession. You have been there. You asked for this help. You wrote letters, you signed petitions, everything you could - you held the rallies to get this hospital built. So we are lucky to have you. People care enough about others, to care about your neighbors, to stand up and say, "We needed this. We needed this, and let's get it done." So you're part of this story. Give yourselves a round of applause for being the voice that this community needed.

I'll also say the Chautauqua County revival is so real. I can feel the momentum. There's so much going on. We're revitalizing the waterfront down the road, the Wells Enterprises expansion, which means ice cream in the summertime. How about that? We've done a lot there. We're creating more jobs, more childcare options, more housing, and in fact, I'll be leaving here - maybe some of you will be joining me - we're heading over to Dunkirk to break ground on another new development. All that is possible because of projects like these. Businesses will come to an area where they know there is healthcare for their employees, full stop.

And now, the county executive knows this. This is going to be a great recruiting tool. The mayors know this. This is going to help us be part of this momentum that this area has not felt for such a long time. Because when you have a hospital - Northern Chautauqua Hospital - [it] sends a message, this community really matters.

And people get here, they'll put down roots, they'll raise their families here, and I cannot wait to see all of you at the next milestone. Now today, we're signing a beam. I never quite understood why we sign beams, because then they get covered up and no one ever sees your signature - which is good because I have really lousy handwriting, so I don't mind it being covered up - but that beam going up is a symbol of stability, of strength, that this is happening. We're not talking anymore. We're building. We're building and we're lifting up. When we lift up the beam, we're lifting up this community. That's what today is all about.

Let me turn it over to our next speaker, a champion who's focused on expanding healthcare all over our region, the President and CEO of Kaleida Health, Don Boyd. Thank you very much, everyone.