'Save our services' was a slogan seen and heard around Veterans Park in Schenectady Sunday afternoon, as dozens showed up to show their concern about the future merger of Trinity Health and Ellis Medicine.

“This is a cry out for Ellis to hear us,” Nikita Hardy, a commissioner on the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission, said. “I’m really happy with the turnout, I’m happy we’ve had these conversations leading up to it. And this is very crucial, we don’t want to lose these services, we don’t want to lose choices.”

What You Need To Know

  • As Ellis and Trinity plan to merge, some community members fear what programs will be cut and how it will affect people’s healthcare choices

  • The protestors say they don’t oppose the merger between these two hospitals

  • The one thing they are looking for though is transparency

  • Ellis Medicine released a statement on the merger

These services that Hardy fears may be lost are things like vasectomies, and gender affirming care for LGBTQ community members.

“A lot of these services will take away their core choices that people make on the autonomy of their bodies,” Hardy said. “So we are calling out for them to not take this away so we don’t have a disparity impact in our community.

With a growing list of signatures on their petition to save essential services, Michelle Osterlich, the chair of the county's Health and Human Services committee says the community cares deeply about this merger.

“We had a community forum back in March with 320 people on a Zoom call to hear about this issue,” Osterlich said. “Folks that work there, folks that are seen there, patients, community members. A lot of folks are concerned that the administrations aren’t listening to them."

The protestors say they don’t oppose the merger between these two hospitals. The one thing they are looking for though is transparency, as they want to know exactly what’s going on during this merger.

“We have been talking with them, we have been working with them,” Arthur Butler, executive director of the Schenectady Human Rights Commission said. “We have taken whatever steps they have asked to take. Just to find out while we were busy talking, and willing to talk they were busy doing. And now it’s time for us to do, and less talk. We can’t stop the merger, but we can ask them to be accountable."

“Ellis and St. Peter’s share a common goal of ensuring the long-term availability of high quality health care for the people of Schenectady and the surrounding region, and believe that partnering toward that goal is the best approach for everyone,” Ellis said in a statement.

While the merger likely won’t happen for about two years, Osterlich says this an issue that needs to be resolved now.

“Having a community hospital that has comprehensive health care is critical,” Osterlich said. “Especially in Schenectady. We have people who will never leave Schenectady, and won’t travel to Albany to get services that are no longer available here. We would absolutely take like to hear from Ellis. We would like to hold them accountable for the cuts that have already happened.”