The Steward Health Care disaster rattling Massachusetts is coming to a head because the Dallas-based firm says it is going to shut Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Heart in Ayer.
“Over the past several months, Steward Health Care has been actively working to sell or transition all its Massachusetts hospitals and we are in active final negotiations to sell six of them,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement on Friday. “Despite the extensive sale process, which involved close coordination with lenders and regulators, there were no qualified bids for two hospitals, Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, and, unfortunately, they will be closing.”
The event comes after Gov. Maura Healey indicated on Tuesday that each one of Steward’s operational Massachusetts hospitals acquired bids for buy throughout an public sale held final week with out offering additional particulars.
“We’ve received qualified bids, we’re evaluating those now and it’s currently with the parties right now in New York,” the governor mentioned.
Steward, which operates eight Bay State Hospitals, introduced in Might that it wasn’t in a position to sustain with its money owed and would want to file Chapter 11 chapter.
Steward’s different services in Massachusetts embody Good Samaritan Medical Heart in Brockton, Holy Household Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Heart in Brighton.
The corporate’s Norwood Hospital has been closed since 2020 attributable to flooding, and the corporate closed New England Sinai Hospital completely in April.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, whose district consists of Ayer, in a submit on X, mentioned he’s calling on Healey and Legal professional Basic Andrea Campbell to “continue to work to stop any hospital from closing, create transition plan and enforce the 120-day closure law.”
“I’m heartbroken to hear from town of Ayer that @Steward will be closing Nashoba Valley Medical Center,” Eldridge wrote. “A treasured community hospital.”
Friday’s announcement additionally comes after the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Training, Labor and Pensions voted to launch a Congressional investigation into what led Steward to file for chapter protections in Might and to subpoena on-the-record testimony from Dr. Ralph de la Torre, who they are saying is in the end chargeable for the corporate’s failure and answerable to its sufferers.
With the committee’s 16 – 4 vote, de la Torre can be required to seem earlier than the lawmakers in D.C. on September 12.
“Under Dr. de la Torre’s leadership, health providers and hospital administrators watched emergency room lines grow, forced to face patients knowing that they did not have the resources nor staff needed to provide the world-class care that Steward and Dr. de la Torre promised,” U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, mentioned Thursday.
Filaine Deronnette, vp at-large of 1199SEIU, referred to as the closures “devastating.”
1199SEIU represents almost 80,000 healthcare staff throughout Massachusetts.
“Steward Health Care’s decision to close Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center is devastating, which will create hospital deserts and exacerbate health inequities in the communities they serve, Deronnette said in a statement. “Patients across Massachusetts will now ultimately pay the price of Steward’s mismanagement if care is pushed miles away and ER capacities reach crisis level.
“The future of care in Massachusetts is at risk, she added. “The healthcare workers of 1199SEIU urge all stakeholders to establish and implement a transition plan that helps mitigate the reduction of care in these communities.”
