Cuomo outlines expansion of health services under Vital Brooklyn

<p>Gov. Andrew Cuomo says central Brooklyn has been overlooked for decades when it comes to crime, poverty and health care issues, and his $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn plan aims to help communities such as Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York and Crown Heights reduce those problems.</p>

News 12 Staff

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Jul 5, 2018, 10:13 PM

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Updated 2,365 days ago

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says central Brooklyn has been overlooked for decades when it comes to crime, poverty and health care issues, and his $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn plan aims to help communities such as Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York and Crown Heights reduce those problems.

First unveiled in 2017, the Vital Brooklyn plan rehabilitated four recreation centers and offered midnight basketball games to help get young people off the streets. Now, Cuomo says 32 community-based health care centers will be created and housed within new affordable housing developments.

Those centers are typically in areas with limited access to health care, and services are offered at rates based on how much a patient can afford.

Vital Brooklyn is divided into three phases. The health care initiative is part of phase two, now in development. The final phase will focus on schoolyard renovations and the construction of new housing developments. It's slated to be completed next year.