Columbia Memorial Health Hosts Town Hall on Future Plans

Hospital officials discuss potential critical access designation change and address community concerns.

Published on Feb. 12, 2026

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Columbia Memorial Health held a town hall meeting where President and CEO Dorothy Urschel discussed the hospital's plans for the future, including a potential change to a critical access designation. Community members and workers attended the meeting in-person and online, raising concerns about the impact on patient care and access. Mayor Joseph Ferris also hosted his own town hall to further address community questions.

Why it matters

The critical access designation would improve the hospital's financial stability by raising reimbursement rates, but it would also require reducing the number of beds from over 150 to just 60. This has raised concerns from the community about patients having to travel farther for care, potentially impacting their recovery and ability to be visited by family members.

The details

Under the critical access guidelines, Columbia Memorial Health would have to reduce its number of beds from more than 150 to just 60. Hospital officials say this change would improve their financial stability, but community members worry it could result in patients needing to travel farther for care. Workers like central sterile technicians Gold Waters and James O'Brien expressed concerns that this could negatively impact patient recovery and visitation. Mayor Joseph Ferris also has outstanding questions he wants the hospital to address through continued dialogue with the community.

  • Columbia Memorial Health held the town hall meeting on February 12, 2026.
  • Mayor Ferris will host his next town hall on February 18, 2026 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Creative Legion in Hudson.
  • The hospital submitted its plan for the critical access designation in December 2025.

The players

Dorothy Urschel

President and CEO of Columbia Memorial Health.

Gold Waters

Central sterile technician at Columbia Memorial Health.

James O'Brien

Central sterile technician at Columbia Memorial Health.

Joseph Ferris

Mayor of the City of Hudson.

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What they’re saying

“We are focused on really preparing ourselves for the future and improving our financial stability. It's important for hospitals to adapt to new care models and that's exactly what Columbia Memorial Health is doing.”

— Dorothy Urschel, President and CEO (news10.com)

“A lot of these decisions are coming from people who never had to deal with public transportation, who can drive their own car and have the luxury of a car.”

— Gold Waters, Central sterile technician (news10.com)

“Patients recover faster, better when they are able to be visited by family members regularly. Anyone who's [going to] an I.C.U. that has to come from Hudson and then go to Albany- they're not going to be visited by family that often. People have lives. They have to work.”

— James O'Brien, Central sterile technician (news10.com)

“Increasing the number of beds for the psych ward is a great step forward. It's a need, but I just keep going back to the fact that there were a lot of questions and there's a need for continued dialogue from the hospital to the community.”

— Joseph Ferris, Mayor of the City of Hudson (news10.com)

What’s next

The hospital submitted its plan for the critical access designation in December 2025, which would need approval on the federal level. Both the hospital and Mayor Ferris will be hosting additional town hall meetings in the coming months to continue the dialogue with the community.

The takeaway

This town hall highlights the tension between a hospital's need to improve its financial stability and the community's concerns about maintaining access to quality, local healthcare. Ongoing communication and collaboration between the hospital and residents will be crucial as Columbia Memorial Health navigates this potential transition to a critical access designation.