TODAY: NYSNA Nurses and Community Allies Hold Town Hall to Demand an Immediate End to Bellevue Service Cuts that Threaten Maternal Healthcare

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WED, AUG. 13 AT 7 P.M.**

Contact: Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169   
Joseph Celestin | press@nysna.org | 518-776-8337 

NYSNA NURSES AND COMMUNITY ALLIES HOLD TOWN HALL TO DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE END TO BELLEVUE SERVICE CUTS THAT THREATEN MATERNAL HEALTHCARE

Ellis Medicine Announced Plans to Close Units and Most Surgical Services at Bellevue Woman’s Center

Amidst Looming Federal Cuts That Threaten Maternal Healthcare, NYSNA Nurses Demand Preservation of Units and Services that Mothers and Babies Rely On

Schenectady, N.Y. – On Wednesday, Aug. 13, NYSNA nurses and community allies will hold a town hall to discuss Ellis Medicine’s plan to close units and services at Bellevue Woman’s Center and the threats posed to maternal and child health in Schenectady County and the greater capital region. Ellis plans to close surgical services in the operating room and outpatient settings, except for c-sections, and lay off 14 nurses while providing minimal training for nurses who are expected to absorb additional responsibilities. While Ellis originally planned to make these cuts at the end of December, they recently announced these cuts would take place on August 22. Nurses are speaking out to demand an immediate end to service cuts and closures and that the hospital invest in safe patient care.

WHO: NYSNA nurses and community allies, including Assembly Member Phil Steck; Schenectady County Legislators Richard Ruzzo, Michelle Ostrelich, and Raj Ishmael; Schenectady City Council President Marion Porterfield; Schenectady City Council Member Carl Williams; Save Burdett Birth Center Coalition; Save Our Services Schenectady Coalition for Healthcare Access; the New York State Council of Churches; Schenectady Central Labor Council; Capital District Area Labor Federation; March of Dimes; and New York Civil Liberties Union  

WHAT: Town hall on cuts to services at Bellevue Woman’s Center and reproductive healthcare

WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 13 from 7-8:00 p.m.  

WHERE:  SUNY Schenectady County Community College (via the Casola Dining Entrance), 78 Washington Ave., Schenectady, NY 12305  
 

Ellis’ plan to close Bellevue Woman’s Center’s surgical services in the operating room and outpatient settings poses a threat to patient care in Schenectady County and the greater capital region. Although patients will still be able to receive c-sections at Bellevue, patients requiring any other surgical services will likely have to travel by ambulance to receive services that should be performed at the bedside at Bellevue. This will lead to increased wait times, potentially separate mothers from babies at a vulnerable time post-birth and could have a negative ripple effect on the broader community by tying up vehicles and increasing wait times for other patients who may need ambulance services in emergencies.

Ellis Hospital’s main campus is already chronically understaffed, and the plan proposes shifting services to overworked nursing staff. Amidst a broader federal attack on healthcare services, particularly women’s reproductive health services, Medicaid, and other healthcare programs that predominantly support vulnerable New Yorkers, nurses are demanding more staff at Bellevue, not less.

Over the last decade, Trinity Health—an out-of-state healthcare corporation—has acquired all of the hospitals under St. Peter’s Health Partners and has tried to consolidate healthcare providers and institutions in the region. They have a history of attacking women’s health services in the capital region and in 2023 they attempted to close Burdett Birth Center at Samaritan and failed.

Trinity Health has a history of denying reproductive care in other parts of the country, and nurses are concerned that reproductive health in the Schenectady region will see the same fate. Trinity Health was the subject of a 2015 lawsuit by the ACLU for refusing life-saving emergency abortions for women who are suffering from pregnancy complications.

Ellis entered a management services agreement with Trinity/St. Peters in 2021, and now Trinity/ St. Peters is threatening care at Bellevue, the only hospital provider of maternal-child health services in Schenectady County. Bellevue claims that it facilitates approximately 2,600 births per year, averaging about 24% of all births in and around the capital region. When patients can’t be seen at Bellevue and Ellis, they are sent to Albany Medical Center.

Although Ellis management has said that their merger with Trinity/St. Peters would result in efficiency, in reality, merger has resulted in the proposed closure of essential services and the denial of reproductive care. For example, Ellis has closed services in the last decade without applying to remove them from their operating certificate. In 2022, the hospital paused overnight emergent care services at the Clifton Park location due to understaffing. It has not reopened since. Ellis also closed the inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit for the same reason in May of 2022 and has capped beds in the ICU and several other units.  

Katie Britton, RN, from Ellis Hospital said, “As Trinity Health began expanding into our region, we’ve been slowly watching as women’s healthcare in the region has been threatened. Despite the fact that they’ve repeatedly reassured the public that access to care would remain the same, they’ve begun to cut some of the most essential services for reproductive healthcare. Now, when a mother needs a life-saving operation, she’ll have to wait until she can be transported to a nearby facility. Those minutes or hours could be the difference between life and death for the mother and her child. We need Trinity to stop thinking about profit and to start thinking about this community.”  

Dawn Zipp, RN, from Bellevue Woman’s Center, said, “We’re already seeing the effects of Ellis and Bellevue’s plan, which hospital administration made without seeking input from nurses. We already struggle with understaffing at Bellevue. Now we’ll be expected to take on extra duties with an insufficient plan for how we’ll be trained to take on these new tasks. Mothers come to Bellevue because they know they get exceptional care. What the hospital is doing will undoubtedly negatively impact our ability to provide safe patient care. We need Bellevue to preserve these services and our nursing staff.”

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “Trinity / St. Peter’s needs to focus less on trying to boost short-term gains for their merger and focus more on ensuring that all Schenectady and capital region residents have access to the safe, quality patient care they deserve—especially our new parents and babies.”  

Nurses, elected officials, advocates, and community allies are united in fighting back against these cuts. Closing Bellevue Woman’s Center services does nothing to improve healthcare services in the capital region and would only make those services more difficult to access, putting patients at risk.  

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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.