Health care workers and North Country residents are calling on New York state to intervene to help save the Carthage and Claxton-Hepburn hospitals.
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a union representing employees at Carthage Area Hospital and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, delivered a letter this week endorsed by more than 1,600 residents and workers in St. Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson counties to state Deputy Secretary for Health Angela Profeta, urging action by any means necessary to maintain services.
Officials are asking the state to stabilize North Star Health Alliance after it announced layoffs last month and closed rural clinics, including through the appointment of a local court-ordered neutral-party if needed to prevent closure of the hospital and medical center.
They say any more losses would lead to people in the region to lose access to emergency care, dialysis, cancer treatment, maternity care and mental health services across the North Country.
“Carthage and Claxton-Hepburn are not optional services for our communities — they are lifelines,” 1199SEIU said in a statement. “Our members and neighbors are calling on the state to step in now, before irreversible harm is done. We are asking for immediate action to keep these hospitals open and fully operational, including appointing a local receiver if that is what it takes to stabilize care and restore trust.”
Spectrum News 1 has reached out to the state Health Department for comment.
North Star Health Alliance officials said in January that job cuts were part of what they called bigger operational adjustments to keep health care services going in the North Country. North Star says more than 100 positions “across management, clinical and non-clinical teams” would be affected.