by Carleigh Minor
News Partner 13WHAM

Warsaw, N.Y. (WHAM) — Senate Democrats are warning rural hospitals could be in serious jeopardy if a proposed Medicaid cut in the so-called "big, beautiful bill" is signed into law.

In a letter to President Donald Trump, they cited a list of more than 300 rural hospitals they said are at risk of possible closure, including Wyoming County, Geneva General and Newark-Wayne.

The American Hospital Association estimates that the passage of this legislation would result in a $50.4 billion reduction in federal Medicaid spending on rural hospitals over the next decade.

The bill is awaiting a vote in the U.S. Senate at this time, but it’s already causing concerns for people in Wyoming County.

"The rural healthcare is already stressed," said Susan Stetzel, EMS captain for the Village of Gainesville.

"So if you call 911, you would still get an ambulance," Stetzel continued. "But where the problem is going to come in is now all of a sudden, instead of maybe an hour to an hour and a half, you’re taking up three to five hours on a call."

People who live in Wyoming County said they’ve been feeling stressed when it comes to reliable health care in their area.

"There are all these little nuances that will create a big problem in rural healthcare that people don’t think about," said Stetzel. "You know, it’s just like when a hospital loses a physician. So, for instance, when we lost OBGYN."

The Wyoming County’s OBGYN in Warsaw closed its doors a few months before Renee Yezarski found out she was pregnant with her first child.

"It definitely was a concern, like most of my pregnancy," she said. "I was at least 40 minutes from Dansville, an hour from Wellsville, you know, 40, 45 minutes from Batavia. So I knew either way, I was going to have to drive somewhere."

During her pregnancy, Renee said she found out she was considered high risk.

"I actually had gestational diabetes and hypertension in my pregnancy," Renee said. "If something were to go wrong, like minutes count."

If the bill does pass, and Wyoming County cuts services or closes, being more than 40 minutes from a hospital for any emergency service would be terrifying to Renee.

"If somebody doesn’t have reliable transportation, it makes it nearly impossible to get decent medical care," she continued. "They just definitely need to figure something out where there’s somebody available, who you’re able to get to within a few moments."

Rochester Regional Health, which operates Newark-Wayne, said in a statement:

"Rochester Regional Health (RRH) remains deeply committed to delivering the highest quality care to every patient we serve. We are increasingly concerned about the proposed federal health care cuts included in the U.S. House-passed reconciliation package, which would significantly reduce funding for Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Medicare. These represent the largest proposed health care cuts in U.S. history and would have devastating consequences, especially for rural communities. If enacted, millions of Americans could lose coverage, and already-strained rural hospitals could face closures, service reductions, or severe staffing cuts. Rural hospitals—including some within the RRH system across Upstate New York—are lifelines for their communities, providing not only critical health care services but also economic stability. These cuts would jeopardize access to emergency care, behavioral health, maternity services, and more. Protecting rural hospitals means protecting the health, well-being, and resilience of entire communities."