State briefly bans university from issuing new radiologic technologist licenses, leaving hundreds ‘in limbo’
The New York Department of Health temporarily banned a university from issuing new radiologic technologist licenses, potentially leaving hundreds of students “in limbo.” However, those fighting the decision declared victory Monday after filing a lawsuit against the state.
DOH first sent a letter to John Patrick University of Health & Applied Sciences June 10, ordering it to stop soliciting and enrolling students in a distance-learning program. Since 2021, the South Bend, Indiana-based school has partnered with New York hospitals to help them fill workforce gaps in imaging.
However, health authorities claimed John Patrick University lacked proper accreditation, and that students were not properly being supervised by state-licensed rad techs, Newsday reported June 28. The school responded by filing a lawsuit on June 24, denying the allegations.
A total of 571 students are currently enrolled in the program and about 85% live in New York or intend to become licensed in the state, according to court records. About 90 were slated to graduate in the next few months, with the lawsuit including statements from 200 students asserting the program pause “jeopardizes my professional future.”
They launched a Change.org petition on the matter, which had gathered nearly 2,300 signatures as of Monday.
“We did everything right. But now, New York State is pulling the rug out from under us. The Department of Health is changing the rules mid-game, suddenly claiming our school’s accreditation doesn’t count—even though it always has. They’re blocking licenses, killing job offers, and wrecking futures over a made-up technicality,” JPU students wrote on the webpage.
Organizers posted an update late Monday, saying that the state had relented after the lawsuit was filed. The New York attorney general reportedly reached out requesting negotiations on June 25 and the sides executed an agreement on June 30.
“This swift reversal confirms what students have long suspected: there was never a legitimate basis for the license revocations. NY DOH acted without legal foundation and hoped students wouldn’t fight back,” Staten Island, New York-based rad tech Martin Sterling wrote Monday.
The lawsuit had labeled allegations from the state that students weren’t properly supervised as “vague” and “unfounded.” Opponents included affidavits from six radiology experts, among them, managers at Northwell Health and NewYork-Presbyterian, which both offer tuition discounts to attend the school, Newsday noted.
The university also had charged that demands from the state—that John Patrick University earn accreditation from the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology—was a change that “bypassed the state’s regular rule-making,” the newspaper noted. In the original letter, health authorities said only accreditation from JRCERT “is being accepted at this time.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.