Thousands of residents of Soundview in the Bronx -- one of the poorest areas of the city -- have good cause to worry over the possible shutdown of a network of local clinics, which would leave them without basic healthcare services and 400 employees without a job. 

New York State announced that it will revoke the Medicaid license of the Soundview HealthCare Network on September 12th. Former State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. manages the clinics.

Local residents have expressed profound concern over the state's decision and said that the clinics are the closest health centers available and provide top quality service. 

The Soundview HealthCare Network, which received $10 million in Medicaid funding last year, was notified on Wednesday (August 10) by the NY State Department of Health, after the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General found that the network "did not comply with the standards required by Medicaid."

"The clinics and the doctors that have been working there for years shouldn't have to pay for Espada's problems," said Soraida Martínez, who receives dental care at Soundview. Her daughter, Karen, is pregnant and gets gynecological care at the clinic. Both Soraida and Karen receive Medicaid assistance.

Martínez was referring to Espada's upcoming trial in October. He is accused of using Soundview's finances to pay for an extravagant lifestyle, spending thousands of dollars on restaurants, shows, vacations and an antique car.

The Soundview HealthCare Network sees more than 100,000 patients a year; more than 20,000 have Medicaid, according to Espada, who added that revoking the network's Medicaid license would be "an atomic bomb" for the community. "Not only will very needy people lose healthcare services, but in a time when we need to create jobs, more than 200 well-paid positions could get slashed, and more than 400 people whose families depend on them would lose their incomes."

Espada affirmed that he will not shut down the clinics "with or without Medicaid" and called the state's decision "a political maneuver directed at me by Governor Andrew Cuomo." Espada said he will fight the issue in court.

"We're going to court next week, we're going to win and we're going to keep the clinics open," said Espada.

Over the past 30 years, the Soundview HealthCare Network has provided a wide variety of primary healthcare services in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city, where high rates of asthma are common. Services include pediatric care, adult care, obstetrics and gynecology, prenatal and postnatal care, cardiology, dental care, dermatology, gastroenterology, infectious diseases, and nutrition.  

Ana Damián, who has lived in Soundview for eight years, said that the clinics are crucial to neighborhood health, because in the case of an emergency, they are the closest places to go.

"If they close the Soundview clinics, we'll have to go to Jacobi Hospital, which is very far from here," said Damián, whose children, Justin, 4, and Britney, 9, receive medical care through the network. "The doctors are excellent and the service is good," she said.

Another Soundview resident worried by the possible shutdown of the network is Guadalupe Santos, whose 17-year-old daughter, Thalía, has been receiving medical care there since she was 6.

"Those clinics help low-income people like us. I bring my daughter there. She can see the dentist or her doctor. The clinic is also close by, not to mention the great service," said Santos.