The GNYHA Board of Governors met on February 7, 2008, and took the following actions:

• was briefed on the hospital and long term care impacts of the cuts proposed by President Bush in the final Executive budget of his Administration;

• discussed Governor Spitzer's Executive budget proposal, including Medicaid cuts, potential medical malpractice cost relief, diagnosis-related group reweighting, graduate medical education reform, changes in the behavioral health delivery system, and changes to ambulatory care;

• approved GNYHA's participation as an amicus curiae in a case brought in NYS court challenging, among other things, the ability of the Public Health Council to consider the negative impacts to hospitals and the care they provide when reviewing freestanding, non-hospital-based ambulatory surgery center Certificates of Need; and

• said farewell to Pat Wang, J.D., a 16-year veteran of GNYHA and Senior Vice President of Finance and Managed Care, who will become President and CEO of HealthFirst, Inc. in March.