ERIE COUNTY, NY – Peter Anderson, spokesman for the Mark Poloncarz for County Executive campaign, today deconstructed Chris Collin’s latest campaign commercial touting the false claim that Erie County is independent of Erie County Medical Center (ECMC). Among other fanciful claims, Collins’ commercial states: “His historic efforts took Erie County out of the hospital business, saving the taxpayers millions.”
Since Chris Collins claims we have gotten “out of the hospital business,” Erie County has made $36 million in payments to ECMC and will continue to pay a minimum of $16.2 million a year forever. The annual subsidy is not the only financial link to the county. ECMC workers are still part of the county’s collective bargaining agreement. Also, the county was recently denied a credit rating upgrade by Moody’s this year partially because the county is still legally obligated to pay more than $100 million in ECMC debt if ECMC were to ever default.
“Our county is far from out of the hospital business and Chris Collins knows it better than anyone,” Anderson said. “His commercials are an attempt to show a rosy picture of an independent ECMC, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The county is still financially tied to ECMC in a big way, plain and simple. Collins should stop hiding behind misleading commercials and his vitriolic spokesperson and get down to the facts.”
A recent Buffalo News article reported that additional funding will be poured into the nursing home project at Erie County Medical Center because of unforeseen structural issues. The county has allocated $11.5 million toward this project, another example of how the county is still deeply financially tied to the future of ECMC.
“If this is running government like a business, then Collins is a disaster. In the business world making outlandish claims, ignoring the bottom line and then lying about it to stockholders should get you fired. Collins just doesn’t work for Erie County; his constant mistakes are just too costly. Chris Collins may throw around millions of dollars in his personal life without a second thought, but the working people of Erie County deserve for their tax dollars spent responsibly.”
