Optum seeks to sell specialty practices at Crystal Run, other New York sites

Orange County patients who rely on Crystal Run for orthopedics, general surgery and urology could soon see those specialties change hands as Optum Health explores sales at several New York sites. The company is in talks with large health systems and has already signed or is negotiating letters of intent, a move that could reshape where local residents get specialty appointments and which practice network controls their care.

Optum said it will keep focusing on primary care, pediatrics and other medical specialties in ambulatory settings in New York, even as it looks to unload some specialty practices affiliated with Optum Medical Care New York and Crystal Run Healthcare. The practices under discussion stretch across Manhattan, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, which means any buyer would inherit patients, referral patterns and outpatient operations in a region where access often depends on how far people have to travel for an appointment.

That matters in Orange County because Crystal Run has been one of the most visible health-care anchors in the Hudson Valley. U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan’s office said Optum bought CareMount Medical in 2022 and Crystal Run Healthcare in 2023, then deepened its reach in the region to more than 2,500 providers and roughly 10% of physicians nationwide. For patients, that level of consolidation can affect how quickly a specialist call is returned, whether an appointment stays in Middletown or moves farther away, and whether the same doctor remains in network after an ownership change.

Ryan has already launched a community inquiry into Optum-owned Hudson Valley practices after receiving complaints about quality and access, and he introduced the Patients Over Profits Act in September 2025 to bar insurers from owning medical practices. The pressure on Optum has also become physical in Middletown, where workers picketed outside the Crystal Run Road facility on June 22 over stalled contract talks, reduced hours and unaffordable benefits. Ryan joined the picket line and warned about consolidation and antitrust concerns.

The latest specialty-sale talks come as Crystal Run and Optum prepare to close their OB/GYN practice in Rock Hill effective July 1, a loss State Assemblywoman Paula Kay called devastating for women’s health in Sullivan County. If the specialty deals close by the end of the year, as Optum hopes, the biggest change for Orange County may not be a new logo on the building but a new system deciding where patients are seen, which plans are accepted and which care teams stay together.