After Terese Willett had a stroke, she needed extensive physical and occupational therapy to regain her independence.
At the DeGraff Wellness Center at DeGraff Medical Park in North Tonawanda, Willett learned how to walk again, to move her fingers, tie her shoes and prepare her own food.
In a statement Wednesday night, Kaleida Health said its Millard Fillmore Surgery Center, at 215 Klein Road in Amherst, is scheduled to close Oct. 1.
Willett credits the staff at the facility for saving her life and giving back her independence.
But other patients like Willett may not be able to access such essential services in the future as Kaleida Health plans to close the Buffalo Therapy Services locations in North Tonawanda and on Maple Road in Amherst due to cuts to federal health care funding. Those two clinics are scheduled to close Nov. 10, affecting 31 workers.
“I will be forever grateful,” Willett said of the staff at DeGraff. “They took away my fear and vulnerability to help me be an independent individual. DeGraff PT is essential to this community.”
Dozens of other patients like Willett, DeGraff employees, union members and elected officials gathered across the street from DeGraff Hospital on Wednesday afternoon to protest the planned closures.
The union that represents Kaleida employees, Communications Workers of America Local 1168, is calling for Kaleida to halt the closure of the two therapy centers, as well as three others the health care system is planning to close. Those other closures include Millard Fillmore Surgery Center, the Ear, Nose and Throat Center at Buffalo General Medical Center and family planning services at Kaleida’s Main Street offices.
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The union is also advocating for Kaleida to ask the federal government, especially Western New York representatives, to reverse the cuts to Medicaid. They are calling on New York State government officials to fill in the funding needed to keep these services open by implementing progressive taxes on the wealthy.
“The federal government has to pay attention to us,” CWA Executive Vice President Robert Andruszko said. “They have to pay attention that vital services are necessary, and they can’t limit those services, and they can’t make people travel 30, 50, 100 miles to get these services that should be routine services.”
Kaleida, like health systems across the country, is exploring cost-cutting measures to mitigate effects from the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will reduce federal Medicaid spending by about $1 trillion from 2025 to 2034. Kaleida said the decision to close the offices “was based on a number of factors, including pending federal funding reductions, particularly in Medicaid reimbursement.” The health system also took into account the overall financial sustainability of the facilities and the availability of similar services in the community.
Assemblyman William Conrad, D-Tonawanda, warned that more closures are sure to come if Medicaid funding is not restored.
“DeGraff isn’t alone,” Conrad said. “Kaleida isn’t alone. These health care professionals aren’t alone.”
DeGraff providers worry their patients will not be able to access the physical, occupational and speech therapy services they need if Kaleida closes the two clinics. At DeGraff, patients can access all those services under one roof, making it convenient for patients and their caregivers.
“We are losing experience, commitment and programs that cannot be easily replaced elsewhere,” said Josett Alfano, a physical and lymphedema therapist at DeGraff. “I want to make this clear: Our department provides vital, specialized services that this community cannot afford to lose. I urge leadership to find a way to maintain these services here in North Tonawanda, where they are most needed.”
For the last 13 years, Alfano has focused on working with cancer patients and people who have lymphedema, a build up of lymph fluid in the body’s tissues, leading to swelling. She also started a support group for cancer patients. As a result of cancer treatment and surgeries, some patients require physical and occupational therapy to deal with side effects like neuropathy, restricted motion, cognitive changes and weakness, Alfano said.
Elaine Polino, a speech-language pathologist, works with adults at DeGraff who have had strokes, concussions and other head injuries and various neurological diseases, like ALS, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. If both therapy clinics close, the area will lose five speech therapists, Polino said.
“If you have ever had an occupational, physical or speech therapist make an impact on you or your family, you know the services they provide really are like magic in their scope and depth of the effect they have on a person’s life,” said Sarah Buckley, the political legislative action director for CWA 1168.
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Natalie Brophy
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