National Nurses United

4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 6 NEW YORK F or decades, access to safe, quality patient care in New York's rural North Country has been on the decline. In some counties, few health care professionals exist at all; in oth- ers, patients are prevented from getting care by limited transportation or providers that don't accept their health insurance or Medi- caid. Decades of bed closures, service reductions, and hospital consolidations have created a rural health care crisis. In 2026, there are no Level I or II trauma centers in the North Country, forcing the sickest patients to travel hours to receive care. The Trump administration's "One Big Beautiful Bill" will only worsen this situation by reducing the number of insured New York- ers and, likely, forcing the closure of even more "unprofitable" hospital beds. To protect access to care for North Coun- try communities, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) members from Adirondack Medical Center, Carthage Area Hospital, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Samaritan Medical Center, UVM-Alice Hyde Medical Center, UVM-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH), and UVM-Elizabethtown Community Hospital joined forces this fall to bargain for fair con- tracts and demand hospitals prioritize patients over profits. In October, NYSNA members at Samari- tan, Carthage, and Claxton-Hepburn took action to make their contract demands known to hospital management. On Oct. 1, Samaritan members marched on the boss, delivering a petition demanding that man- agement settle a fair contract for nurses. That same week, members at Carthage and Claxton-Hepburn organized a joint button campaign to remind management that nurses want fair contracts, not pizza parties. And just a few weeks later, members at CVPH marched to the Department of Human Resources to demand dates for bar- gaining. After CVPH nurses and health care professionals made their voices heard, man- agement quickly proposed new dates. Across all seven North Country hospitals, NYSNA members' contract demands include safe staffing ratios and the fair wages and benefits necessary to recruit and retain new nurses in rural communities. As part of the joint campaign, NYSNA members launched coordinated ads—"We Care for the North Country"—reminding patients and community members that it's frontline health care workers who care for them in times of need. On social media, NYSNA members created a series of videos featuring health care workers speaking about the critical need to protect patient care in their communities. In addition to their work at the bargain- ing table and inside the hospital, NYSNA members also held a roundtable in late November for community allies and elected officials. NYSNA nurses spoke about the state of care in their communities, the lack of access to critical health care services across the North Country, and the undue burden this lack of access places on nurses, patients, and entire communities. Building on the success of the roundtable, members also held a community-facing townhall in early December, dis- cussing how health care cuts negatively impact rural com- munities and how North Country hospitals can protect patients. Speaking at the townhall, Bill Schneider, NYSNA second vice president and member at Adirondack Medical Center, said, "Services are being cut, patients are struggling to receive care, and people are getting sicker and sicker. We're here today to demand that our hospitals do better, and that the state hold our hospitals accountable because your zip code should not determine the quality care you receive." On the heels of the successful roundtable and townhall, NYSNA released "Protecting Rural Patients and Communities: Access to Care and Hospital Consolidation in the North Country," a new report that analyzes more than a decade's worth of hospital data and provides potential solutions to the ongoing patient care crisis. In early February, after months of negoti- ations, NYSNA members at Carthage Area Hospital, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, and Samaritan Medical Center settled fair contracts that protect patient care in the communities they serve. Members voted overwhelmingly to ratify the new contracts, which include safeguards against artificial intelligence, protections from workplace vio- lence, and the respectful wages and benefits necessary to recruit and retain new nurses. NYSNA members are excited about these victories but recognize that the fight is a long way from being over. Nurses and health care professionals at four other North Coun- try hospitals are still bargaining, hoping to achieve similar contracts that will protect patient care in their communities. Restoring access to care for New York's rural patients and communities, after decades of disinvest- ment, will be a long-term project. But as patient advocates, first and foremost, NYSNA members are up for the challenge and look forward to the day when every North Country resident has access to the safe, quality patient care they deserve. —Joseph Celestin NEWS BRIEFS Nurses fight to defend patient care in rural North Country NYSNA members from New York's North Country at the 2025 NYSNA Convention in Monticello, N.Y.

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