NEW YORK, NY November 17, 2005 —The panel charged with deciding the fate of the state's hospitals will lay out criteria for determining which facilities stay open and which ones are closed. WNYC's Fred Mogul has more.

How important is a hospital to "vulnerable populations"? What is the quality of the care it delivers? How financially viable is it? The Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century will look at these and other considerations at a meeting today.

The panel will decide how to measure each of these criteria, and then will begin amassing and analyzing data from around the state. Albany only directly controls a small handful of institutions, but because it has the power to grant or withhold licenses, it effectively decides the shape of all hospitals, public and private.

Some lobbying organizations have expressed concern that the committee will recommend a moratorium on all expansions and developments. Its director says that's not the case.