Gov. Kathy Hochul has until Friday to sign a bill that would require public input before a hospital or health center is closed in the state.

Democratic lawmakers have returned to the Capital Region until Wednesday — holding their annual retreats where they discuss next session's legislative priorities behind closed doors.

Dozens of health care advocates and lawmakers rallied at the Capitol on Monday urging governor to sign legislation on her desk to improve transparency of conversations about what will become of struggling health care centers.

"The reason we want transparency is, sometimes, the rationale that is used has nothing to do with the facts," Assembly sponsor Jo Anne Simon said.

More than 40 hospitals have closed across the state in the last decade, including 10 maternal health centers and more than two dozen psychiatric centers.

And announcements are typically made with little notice — upending care for thousands of New Yorkers who don't get a say in the decision.

"We first learned about the merger of Ellis [Health] by reading about it in our newspaper," said Arthur Butler, executive director of the Schenectady County Human Rights Commissioners. "That's how we had to do it."

Lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year that would require greater public notice and community engagement when a hospital attempts to close, or to shutter one of its units.

Current state law only requires the state Health Department to hold a public hearing after a hospital has already closed. If the proposal becomes law, hospitals would be required to notify the state Health Department of its planned closure at least nine months beforehand.

"Very sick people are being sent to hospitals outside their own neighborhoods or communities, and then waiting for hours or days in overcrowded ERs," said Lois Uttley, health policy advocate for Community Voices for Health System Accountability. "...And frail, elderly people, people with disabilities, people whose first language is not English, are struggling to navigate a constantly changing and confusing health system."

The measure, known as the Local Input in Community Health Care Act, or LICH, was named for a Brooklyn hospital that closed in 2014 after real estate issues, and years of attempts to save it.

It cleared the Legislature after millions of dollars in this year's budget reversed plans to close SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and the Burdett Birth Center at Samaritan Hospital in Rensselaer County.

"Pregnant people are being unable to give birth in hospitals near their homes and having to travel out of town to unfamiliar hospitals," Uttley said.

Assemblywoman Simon said she's been in talks with the governor's staff as Hochul considers the bill. 

There's been concerns that hospitals may not know about a closure, but Simon says that's not an issue, and the Legislature negotiated with the Greater New York Hospital Association before voting to approve the measure.

"The reality is that if they don't know nine months in advance that they're about to close, there's something very wrong there," Simon told reporters after the rally. "They all know. It's nothing, it's a drop in the bucket."

The assemblywoman is open to accepting chapter amendments from the governor, but Hochul has yet to propose one.

The issue remains prevalent statewide. A total of 27 rural hospitals, or 53% across the state, are at risk, of closing, according to a recent study by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.

United University Professions President Fred Kowal, who leads the labor union that represents most SUNY faculty and staff, fought for the legislation in wake of the state's earlier plans to shutter SUNY Downstate due to financial struggles and crumbling infrastructure.

Kowal on Monday said it's critical Hochul signs the bill into law before President-elect Donald Trump takes office Jan. 20.

"Donald Trump has made clear that he is no friend of the public sector, or for that matter, health care for the vast majority of Americans," Kowal said. "I call on the governor of this state, as much as our legislators have stood up in defense of health care, so she must stand up for health care, for hospitals and for a process that ensures the community is heard. Don't let Donald Trump and his allies, the billionaires who want to take away health care, have the last word."

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been corrected to reflect that LICH was named for a Brooklyn hospital.