During the public-comment period, Ken Walter identified himself as a co-chair of a local legislative-action committee and presented an analysis he said was compiled from Garnet Health tax filings and other public records. Walter said the hospital system posted losses of roughly $10 million in 2022 and $7 million in 2023 and that it received a $27 million government grant related to ARPA funds in 2020.

Walter said local representation on the hospital board has dropped and that services and staffing have declined—he cited a fall in total employees from a previous high (879) to 732 in 2022—and alleged that service cuts have included lab reductions and an emergency-room closure in Catskill. He said transporting patients from the county to other facilities strains neighboring emergency departments and described the situation as “totally unfair” to local residents.

Walter urged greater public transparency, saying, “If they want our money, open your **** books,” and asked why the state Department of Health was not more active in overseeing decisions he described as harmful to local care. He said he would pursue further action and that more information would follow.

Why it matters: Garnet Health is a major local health-care provider; public concerns about service reductions and financial stability can affect access to care and prompt scrutiny by elected officials and regulators. The transcript records the public speaker’s assertions but does not provide independent confirmation of the financial or operational claims.

Meeting context: the remarks came during the public-comment period and were not an agenda item; no county action was recorded in response during the meeting.