TODAY: NYSNA Nurses Hold Speak-Out to Save Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and Carthage Area Hospital, Currently at Risk of Closure

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 AT 6 PM**

Contact: Joseph Celestin | press@nysna.org | 518-776-8337
Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489

NYSNA NURSES HOLD SPEAK-OUT TO SAVE CLAXTON-HEPBURN MEDICAL CENTER AND CARTHAGE AREA HOSPITAL, CURRENTLY AT RISK OF CLOSURE

NYSNA Nurses Demand New York State Department of Health Stabilize Hospital Funding for Northstar/Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and Carthage Area Hospital to Save the Essential Staff and Services North Country Communities Need

Carthage, N.Y.– On Wednesday, March 18, NYSNA nurses will hold a speak-out to demand that New York State take immediate action to stabilize funding for Northstar/Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and Carthage Area Hospital. The hospitals are currently in bankruptcy proceedings and are at risk of closure. North Country communities rely on the essential services these hospitals offer, and their closure would further threaten access to care.

NYSNA nurses will speak about the devastating impact hospital cuts or closures could have on patients across the region.

WHO: NYSNA nurses
WHAT: Speak-Out to Save Claxton-Hepburn and Carthage
WHEN: Wednesday, March 18 at 6 p.m. 
WHERE: Carthage Area Hospital, 1001 West St, Carthage, NY

Northstar/Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and Carthage Area Hospital are currently in bankruptcy, and NYSNA nurses are demanding that the state take action to save these essential healthcare facilities. Decades of disinvestment and hospital consolidation in the North Country have eroded access to care across the region, leaving patients in the lurch. Hospital service reductions and bed closures, compounded by long distances, lack of access to transportation, and high rates of under or uninsured patients, mean that North Country patients already struggle to access the care that they need.  

Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and Carthage Area Hospital serve thousands of patients across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. If these hospitals close, patients will be forced to travel hours for emergency, maternal and specialized care. Over 118,00 New Yorkers live within one hour of Claxton-Hepburn and over 149,000 New Yorkers live within one hour of Carthage Area Hospital. 90 beds are currently under threat between the two hospitals.  

Earlier this month, NYSNA released a report highlighting the decline in access to quality care in the North Country, defined in the report as Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties, which is the largest region in New York State by geography. In the face of historic disinvestment and recent federal cuts to healthcare funding, nurses in the region have been demanding that policymakers and hospitals take action to protect care, particularly in services like pediatric, trauma, maternal, and mental healthcare, where cuts have been most dramatic. Hospitals and healthcare systems are not only central to care in the region; they are economic pillars and among the region’s largest employers.

Jessica Thornton, RN, said, “As a nurse at Claxton-Hepburn, I see how essential the services and resources we provide are for our community. Patients in the North Country already struggle to access the care they need, driving hours for emergency care and specialized treatments. All New Yorkers deserve access to safe, quality patient care close to home, and nurses will continue to raise our voices until we ensure that these hospitals are protected and care continues in our communities.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “We knew federal cuts to healthcare funding would have disastrous effects on our North Country hospitals. New York State must protect care so that North Country communities continue to have access to these vital hospitals. Our North Country hospitals are lifelines in their communities, and NYSNA nurses will raise the alarm until funding is secured.”

Upstate hospitals and their lobbyists have insisted on expanding the Hospital-at-Home program as part of the New York state budget. The program allows hospitals to transition patients’ acute care to their homes instead of hospitals with remote monitoring, virtual visits and little oversight, even in cases of emergency. Hospital executives in rural areas are presenting Hospital-at-Home as a solution to the crisis in access to care, but the program cannot provide the ongoing, in-person assessment and treatment by health care professionals that acute care requires.

NYSNA believes the expansion of Hospital-at-Home will increase pressure to close in-patient hospital units, reduce beds, cut RN and other caregiver staffing levels, reduce hospital capacity, and leave hospitals less prepared to handle public health emergencies or sudden surges in demand. NYSNA instead advocates for increasing fair funding to public, safety-net, and critical access hospitals to ensure patients in every part of the state have access to safe quality care.  

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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.