BOSTON (WHDH) – Elected officials promised to ensure continued access to health care and vowed to hold Steward Health Care accountable Monday after the company announced plans to close two hospitals in Massachusetts next month.
Three days after Steward’s announcement, officials including Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Stephen Lynch, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu gathered outside Carney Hospital in Dorchester alongside union leaders and other community members for Monday’s press conference.
“We are frustrated,” Wu said in her remarks. “And we are angry to be here today.”
Steward operates eight hospitals in Massachusetts. Mired in financial trouble, Steward declared bankruptcy earlier this year and said it would sell all its hospitals in the state.
By Friday of last week, Steward said it was in active negotiations with potential buyers for six hospitals. Steward said it had not found qualified bids for Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, though. As a result, the company said it would close both facilities on or before Aug. 31.
The announcement drew a sharp and immediate response from leaders, patients, and health care workers across the state. As the frustration lingered into a new week, Lynch warned Carney’s closure would “Tear a hole in health care network of this part of Boston.”
Carney dates back to 1863. Speaking Monday, Lynch highlighted the hospital’s present-day mental health and psychiatric care.
“The removal of Carney Hospital from that network would be a devastating blow to the mental health of our community,” he said. “…We want a better result.”
Union leaders and lawmakers alike last week highlighted a state law that requires hospitals notify state regulators 120 days before any proposed closure. On Monday, officials again flagged the notice requirement.
“That announcement violates state law, state regulations and federal law,” Lynch said of Steward’s planned…