Urging Nuvance to look at increase in young families

SHARON — Impassioned speeches urging Nuvance Health to retain full services at Sharon Hospital were aired at a community rally on the Sharon Green on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 6.  The event drew about 300 supporters from area towns, including town and state political leaders.

Residents of New York state and Connecticut lined up to sign letters opposing Nuvance’s plans and asking state officials to assist.

The rally was organized by a citizens’ group named Save Sharon Hospital, formed in 2018, when initial plans to reduce services were announced. At issue once again are Nuvance’s planned reductions in services within the labor and delivery department at the hospital as well as other areas, including surgical and ICU.

Founded in 1909, Sharon Hospital now has 78 beds and serves 20 area communities and their 41,000 residents, in Connecticut and New York.

A merger in 2019 transferred ownership of the hospital to nonprofit Nuvance Health, based in New York State, with the new owner pledging to retain all services for a period of at least five years.

Now in the third year of its pledge, Nuvance is seeking to reduce services. Area residents and doctors have been vocal in opposition to the reductions.

State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) spoke at the rally and recalled that three years before, state regulators had told Nuvance to keep labor and delivery as a condition of approval of the merger.

Horn told the crowd that Nuvance cannot make a change to that promise without the permission of state officials. She noted that a public hearing will be part of that process.

Also pledging support of the effort was Gregg Pulver, chair of the Dutchess County Legislature (R-19), who decried the “degradation of Sharon Hospital.”

“We need to keep this going,” Pulver told the rally supporters.

Remembering his 30 years of experience delivering babies at Sharon Hospital, Dr. Howard Mortman urged that the changes not be allowed to happen. His comments were bolstered by other speakers who evoked emotion as they recounted stories of Mortman’s skill and depth of character, which saw them through some difficult deliveries, remaining by their sides until the outcome was assured.

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway of Cornwall (who is also an ambulance driver for the town) observed that the rally crowd on Nov. 6 was larger than at the rally three years ago. He suggested pivoting the problem toward the positive. He said that he is seeing more baby strollers in the area these days.

“We are just beginning on this,” Ridgway said, noting the region’s efforts to get more young families to move here.

Pointing to increased school enrollment as an indicator of growing demographics, Dr. David Kurish urged residents to contribute to the Save Sharon Hospital fundraising opportunities, to assist with legal fees as they arise.

“The Town of North East will stand with you,” town Supervisor Chris Kennan told the crowd, having described the importance of the hospital to the area. North East is the larger town that includes the village of Millerton.

“We want to be sure that our voices are loud and clear,” Kent First Selectman Jean Speck said, pointing to the young children running about at the rally and calling them the future of Sharon Hospital.

Resident Corey Murphy urged Nuvance to listen to the community and to think creatively.

Kent resident Chris Garrity noted that the area has seen a 40% increase in population. He urged Nuvance to recognize the opportunity represented by those numbers.

Applying his forensic accounting experience to the issue, Victor Germack of Salisbury saw the plans to close the maternity services as impactful to women’s rights.

“They must show us the numbers,” Germack said. He urged Nuvance to “put the mission ahead of the profit margin.”

For more information about Save Sharon Hospital, go to www.savesharonhospital.org. They are also seen on Instagram at Save_Sharon_Hospital or on Facebook at Save Sharon Hospital.

Area residents who had either been born at or delivered their babies in Sharon Hospital’s Labor and Delivery department gathered for a group photo at the Save Sharon Hospital rally on Saturday, Nov. 6. Photo by Leila Hawken

Latest News

In remembrance: Tim Prentice and the art of making the wind visible

In remembrance: Tim Prentice and the art of making the wind visible
In remembrance: Tim Prentice and the art of making the wind visible
In remembrance: Tim Prentice and the art of making the wind visible

There are artists who make objects, and then there are artists who alter the way we move through the world. Tim Prentice belonged to the latter. The kinetic sculptor, architect and longtime Cornwall resident died in November 2025 at age 95, leaving a legacy of what he called “toys for the wind,” work that did not simply occupy space but activated it, inviting viewers to slow down, look longer and feel more deeply the invisible forces that shape daily life.

Prentice received a master’s degree from the Yale School of Art and Architecture in 1960, where he studied with German-born American artist and educator Josef Albers, taking his course once as an undergraduate and again in graduate school.In “The Air Made Visible,” a 2024 short film by the Vision & Art Project produced by the American Macular Degeneration Fund, a nonprofit organization that documents artists working with vision loss, Prentice spoke of his admiration for Albers’ discipline and his ability to strip away everything but color. He recalled thinking, “If I could do that same thing with motion, I’d have a chance of finding a new form.”

Keep ReadingShow less
people

Strategic partnership unites design, architecture and construction

Strategic partnership unites design, architecture and construction

Hyalite Builders is leading the structural rehabilitation of The Stissing Center in Pine Plains.

Provided

For homeowners overwhelmed by juggling designers, architects and contractors, a new Salisbury-based collaboration is offering a one-team approach from concept to construction. Casa Marcelo Interior Design Studio, based in Salisbury, has joined forces with Charles Matz Architect, led by Charles Matz, AIA RIBA, and Hyalite Builders, led by Matt Soleau. The alliance introduces an integrated design-build model that aims to streamline the sometimes-fragmented process of home renovation and new construction.

“The whole thing is based on integrated services,” said Marcelo, founder of Casa Marcelo. “Normally when clients come to us, they are coming to us for design. But there’s also some architecture and construction that needs to happen eventually. So, I thought, why don’t we just partner with people that we know we can work well with together?”

Keep ReadingShow less
architecture
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

‘The Dark’ turns midwinter into a weeklong arts celebration

‘The Dark’ turns midwinter into a weeklong arts celebration

Autumn Knight will perform as part of PS21’s “The Dark.”

Provided

This February, PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance in Chatham, New York, will transform the depths of midwinter into a radiant week of cutting-edge art, music, dance, theater and performance with its inaugural winter festival, The Dark. Running Feb. 16–22, the ambitious festival features more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, making it one of the most expansive cultural events in the region.

Curated to explore winter as a season of extremes — community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light — The Dark will take place not only at PS21’s sprawling campus in Chatham, but in theaters, restaurants, libraries, saunas and outdoor spaces across Columbia County. Attendees can warm up between performances with complimentary sauna sessions, glide across a seasonal ice-skating rink or gather around nightly bonfires, making the festival as much a social winter experience as an artistic one.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances

Tanglewood Learning Institute expands year-round programming

Tanglewood Learning Institute expands year-round programming

Exterior of the Linde Center for Music and Learning.

Mike Meija, courtesy of the BSO

The Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI), based at Tanglewood, the legendary summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is celebrating an expanded season of adventurous music and arts education programming, featuring star performers across genres, BSO musicians, and local collaborators.

Launched in the summer of 2019 in conjunction with the opening of the Linde Center for Music and Learning on the Tanglewood campus, TLI now fulfills its founding mission to welcome audiences year-round. The season includes a new jazz series, solo and chamber recitals, a film series, family programs, open rehearsals and master classes led by world-renowned musicians.

Keep ReadingShow less
education

Designing for wellness

Designing for wellness

Natural light can be a powerful tool for wellness.

Natalia Zukerman

Wellness is often framed as something we do — a dog walk, a yoga class, a healthy resolution. But as we retreat indoors in winter, we are reminded that wellness is also something we live inside. Our homes quietly influence how we breathe, sleep, focus and feel — sometimes for better, sometimes not.

Interior design for wellness is less about color and style trends and more about intentional choices. Specialty designers create spaces aligned with the health-first framework of the World Health Organization’s guidelines. But with some basic knowledge, homeowners can borrow from that playbook and embrace wellness at home.

Keep ReadingShow less
writer's notebook
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.