New York is investing more than $2.6 billion to improve health care access and reliability for safety net hospitals. The funding, part of the Health Care Safety Net Transformation Program, is intended to modernize facilities, expand services and upgrade electronic health record systems across the state.
Safety net hospitals provide care to patients regardless of their ability to pay, often serving low-income, uninsured or publicly insured populations such as Medicaid recipients. While any hospital must stabilize someone in an emergency, safety net hospitals serve vulnerable populations as their core mission. Safety net hospitals are considered essential in rural areas or communities with limited access to health care and typically rely heavily on government funding and subsidies to cover uncompensated care.
The 2025 Safety Net Transformation Program was first authorized with up to $300 million in capital and operating support for partnerships between safety net hospitals and health systems. The program encourages partnerships between safety net hospitals and larger health care systems to improve efficiency and long-term sustainability. It provides both capital and operating support, as well as regulatory flexibility, to help stabilize hospitals under financial strain.
In the state’s FY 2026 budget, the legislature committed an additional $1 billion for capital support and $300 million for operating resources. In an Oct. 16 announcement, Gov. Kathy Hochul said that more than $2.6 billion in investments will be made to support six new hospital partnerships under the program. The budget documents do not clearly itemize how the $2.6 billion total is composed across fiscal years, funding sources or project scopes. As New York faces an estimated $13 billion reduction in federal health care funding, state leaders hope to leverage this program to protect access to essential care for communities most at risk.
The six partnerships and their focus include:
- Arnot Ogden Medical Center and Cayuga Health will form a unified system in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes.
- Crouse Hospital and Northwell Health will expand ambulatory and cardiac services in Syracuse.
- Erie County Medical Center and the University at Buffalo Physicians Group will implement a communitywide electronic record system and construct a Community Health Pavilion on Buffalo’s East Side.
- Maimonides Medical Center and NYC Health + Hospitals will modernize operations in Brooklyn.
- St. John’s Riverside and Montefiore Health System will expand cardiac and cancer care in Yonkers.
- Westchester Medical Center, Bon Secours, and Health Alliance will integrate under WMC Health with upgrades in pediatrics, behavioral health, maternal care, and digital systems.
The state Department of Health will oversee project implementation. The initiative also supports workforce recruitment, training programs, and infrastructure improvements designed to strengthen hospital operations across both urban and rural regions.
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