Holy Household Hospital is transferring to shutter some providers at its Haverhill campus, together with the emergency division, lower than a yr after new house owners took over the power in the course of the Steward Health Care collapse.
An legal professional for Holy Household Hospital, now owned by Lawrence Normal Hospital, wrote to well being care regulators Thursday signaling that hospital officers need to shut a number of dozen inpatient medical and surgical beds and the emergency division in Haverhill this fall.
Crystal Bloom, an legal professional with Husch Blackwell LLP, mentioned the Haverhill campus has 59 inpatient medical and surgical beds however that the present common each day census totals 9 sufferers, who “can be served by the Methuen campus and [Lawrence General Hospital].”
Holy Household Hospital intends to shut the Haverhill emergency division and as an alternative function a satellite tv for pc emergency facility as a satellite tv for pc of the Methuen campus, Bloom wrote. It will “offer emergent care services for patients in the same location as the existing ED with minimal disruption to the services currently available to patients.”
Hospital officers additionally need to make formal the closure of Haverhill’s 10-bed intensive care unit, which Bloom mentioned “has been out of service since January 2024,” when Steward nonetheless operated the power.
The adjustments won’t have an effect on inpatient psychiatric beds on the Haverhill website, which is able to stay operational.
“As Holy Family Hospital is fully integrating into a new system that includes [Lawrence General Hospital], they are working strategically to invest in and redeploy care and resources in a more thoughtful integrated manner that better meets the needs of its communities,” Bloom wrote.
Within the Thursday letter, Bloom mentioned hospital officers intend to submit a proper 90-day discover round June 30 detailing the proposed service closures.
The closure would reduce well being care providers within the area months after state and hospital officers trumpeted success at saving Holy Household Hospital’s two campuses in Haverhill and Methuen from Steward’s chapter.
State authorities dedicated a whole bunch of tens of millions of {dollars} to assist the transition of former Steward hospitals to new house owners.
Operators who need to shutter important hospital providers should submit discover to state regulators. The Division of Public Health is required to carry a public listening to concerning the potential impacts and decide whether or not the service eyed for closure is important to the world’s well being.
If DPH deems the service essential, laws name on the hospital to submit a plan for assuring sufferers will proceed to have entry. Nonetheless, the division can not outright reject a service closure or drive a hospital to maintain one thing open.
