Health care workers and North Country residents in New York are calling on the 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 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, which announced layoffs last month and closed rural clinics. They requested the state appoint a local court-ordered neutral party if needed to prevent closure of the hospital and medical center. According to the union, “Carthage and Claxton-Hepburn are not optional services for our communities—they are lifelines.”
Services at Risk
Any more losses would lead people in the region to lose access to emergency care, dialysis, cancer treatment, maternity care, and mental health services across the North Country. The union statement emphasized: “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.”
North Star Health Alliance officials said in January that job cuts were part of bigger operational adjustments to keep health care services going in the North Country. More than 100 positions across management, clinical, and non-clinical teams were affected by the cuts.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: http://www.spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2026/02/04/north-country-residents-join-call-in-urging-state-to-save-hospitals