Proposed state budget cuts may end up putting Long Island health care facilities in jeopardy, local leaders and health care workers say.

Those leaders and health care industry workers are calling for the funds to be restored. Assemblyman Andy Raia (R-East Northport) says more cuts would be unfair after last year?s cuts.

?Seventy percent of the cost of running a nursing home relates to the direct caregivers who provide the hands-on care,? Scott Amrhein, of the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition, says. ?If you get a big cut like that, you have no choice but to have fewer caregivers.?

Dan Hittleman, a Melville resident who has been undergoing physical therapy at a rehabilitation center in Commack, says he wouldn?t want to see any of the services he?s been benefiting from rolled back.

A spokesman for Gov. Eliot Spitzer's office defended the proposed cuts, saying the state is facing a $4.5 billion deficit and needs to cut back spending.

To watch an extended interview with Dan Hittleman, go to channel 612 on your iO digital cable box and select iO Extra.