The state Department of Health does not provide the same level of detail to health-care consumers regarding hospital performance as it does for physicians and nursing homes.

We don’t know why that’s the case, and we agree with those groups fighting to make hospital data more readily available to those who use the facilities: people.

New York state makes it fairly easy for patients to see their doctor’s disciplinary record and for people to check if nursing homes have passed state inspections.

But where can patients go to find out if the state Department of Health has cited their hospital for improper care?

Nowhere easy to find, apparently.

Instead of having information readily available on its website for hospital profiles, the department places it under a separate category in a different section.

Consumers have to dig for complaint and survey information, and even that information has not been updated since June 2005.

There’s been a push from health and hospital watchdog groups to make this information more widely available.

Daily Star Amy Ashbridge was told by the DOH she would have to file a Freedom of Information Law request to get deficiency reports on local hospitals.

"It’s certainly important to the hospitals," said Arthur Levin, director of the Center for Medical Consumers. "If they know that everybody out there can easily find their skeletons, they tend to do something about it."

However, DOH officials finally agreed to provide some basic numbers for 2006 for the area’s three largest hospitals _ A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta, Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich and Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown.

The federal government also does not publish deficiencies online. The only way to obtain those is through a FOIL request.

Hospital officials are mixed on the issue, with Dr. Carlton Rule, vice president of medical affairs at Fox, questioning how "appropriate" it would be for patients to have access to detailed information about deficiencies and complaints.

On the other hand, Delaware Valley Hospital spokeswoman Dotti Kruppo said making this information more accessible would let patients see what hospitals are doing. "People should know," she said last week.

Being a newspaper, we tend to think hardly any information should be secret, and we realize that technically the detailed data about hospitals is available by FOIL.

However, we think all levels of government should make it easier, not more difficult, for people to get information that affects their lives. We urge the DOH to press forward and let the sun shine on hospital records.