Today’s announcement that North Star Health Alliance and its operating affiliates have initiated voluntary Chapter 11 filings is deeply troubling for the communities across Northern New York. The health system has indicated that facilities remain open and day-to-day operations will continue during this process. The services in this community need to be preserved, and vendors, especially local vendors, need reconciliation with what they are owed for their services. Assemblyman Gray will continue to work towards these goals.

This moment requires urgency, clarity, and leadership from the New York State (DOH). For months, repeated efforts to engage DOH have not produced the level of partnership the community needs. It has now been three weeks since the CEO resigned, and the management services agreement needed to stabilize operations remains unexecuted. The DOH was warned by email from my office yesterday at 11 a.m. that decisive action was needed and additional steps were pending absent prompt engagement.

At today’s health budget hearing, multiple members of the Legislature pressed the commissioner on hospital safety-net funding and the timely deployment of those dollars to support facilities serving rural areas. At one point, the response offered was that “pending” is better than a “no” response. That is not an acceptable standard when access to care is on the line. It is tone-deaf to the realities of rural health care and the strain already felt by the community.

Weeks ago, a straightforward request was made for the DOH to place an on-site team in these facilities to help obtain and verify the information being requested. That support has not materialized. This lack of engagement is inexcusable and not how health care should be delivered in New York state.

The DOH must act now: Finalize the management services agreement, deploy a team to the facilities immediately and provide a clear written timeline for decisions tied to safety-net funding and operational stabilization. The community deserves answers and action, not delays.