BOSTON – As the governor and her administration finalize contracts to transfer five hospital campuses to Boston Medical Center, Lawrence General Hospital and Lifespan in Rhode Island, a lawmaker facing the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer sees a glimmer of hope.
In the contracts for the five centers, Governor Maura T. Healey chose to purchase St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center through the power of expropriation and transfer ownership of the property to Boston Medical Center. Her reasoning was that St. Elizabeth’s had received a qualified offer, but she was frustrated with the interaction between the owner, Apollo Global Management, and BMC.
“The endless back and forth and then the landlord refused to move,” Healey said as she announced the agreements Friday afternoon at a hastily called news conference where she was joined by Kate Walsh, secretary of health and human services, and Dr. Robbie Goldstein, Massachusetts’ health commissioner.
“The state will assume control of the facility and then transfer St. Elizabeth’s to its new owner, Boston Medical Center,” Healey said. “It will remain open and operating.”
The offer letter for $4.5 million should be delivered before the end of the day, Healey said.
The ownership transition brokered by the governor and her team includes St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and the two Holy Family Hospital locations in Haverhill and Methuen.
The state will ensure that current wage and salary obligations are met and will offer financial support during the transition period.
Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough) hopes that the expropriation process will prompt a potential qualified bidder to come forward and make a bid for the two remaining hospitals: Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley, which is in his district.
“She has signaled that she is willing to use state resources to make a deal and keep Nashoba Valley and Carney open,” Eldridge said, quoting language used by the governor in the announcement signaling her willingness to act if “a qualified bidder should miraculously emerge.”
“This is significant,” he said.
That willingness, Eldridge believes, could motivate potential bidders to buy the two hospitals, which received no bids because of their operating conditions. The governor pointed out that the chronic lack of investment in the properties has led to their deterioration.
“I’m really doing everything I can as a legislator. I’m asking qualified bidders to submit a bid to the Healey/Driscoll administration,” Eldridge said. He had specific proposals based on the strong tax revenues of the past few months and the $600 million tobacco settlement to the state. Those funds, as well as funds included in the fiscal year 2025 budget and supplemental budgets for community hospitals, can all be used.
More than 400 people attended a town hall meeting in Devens on Thursday, including community members, city administrators, police and fire chiefs and mayors, to seek a way to save Nashoba Valley from closure.
Meanwhile, the state’s MassHire Rapid Response Team has been in Nashoba Valley and Carney to meet with staff at both facilities, connect them with services and find open positions. The governor has promised the team will stay as long as it takes to ensure staff get jobs. The team also plans to host job fairs on Aug. 23 and 27. The job fairs will feature more than 40 Massachusetts health care employers looking for qualified talent, the governor’s press release said.
“The governor is taking bold action to keep St. Elizabeth’s open. She must take the same action for Nashoba Valley Medical Center,” Eldridge said.
Senator Marc Pacheco, Democrat of Taunton, praised the governor for her administration’s performance in the face of Steward’s bankruptcy, noting in particular that the agreements reached by the administration put the five hospitals under the control of nonprofit owners and drain venture capital from those Massachusetts hospitals.
“This is extremely good news for the state,” Pacheco said. He also praised Healey’s reluctance not to use expropriation law in purchasing the other two properties. Although it is a tool available to the executive branch in an emergency, it should not be used without a committed buyer, he said.
“Without a buyer, there would be no solution to the underlying problem,” Pacheco said.
“Hospitals are not run by the government – hospitals are run by hospital operators,” Healey said, explaining why the process was initiated at only a single facility for which there was an eager buyer.
“Ralph de la Torre deserves to be investigated and held accountable. He has done terrible damage to major hospital systems, not just in Massachusetts, but nationally and internationally,” Healey said, referring to the for-profit network’s other hospitals and facilities in Spain, as well as the entire health care system on the island nation of Malta.
Steward, she said, had pulled the rug out from under Massachusetts’ health care system, which involved eight hospitals. “She announced she was bankrupt and destitute,” Healey said, explaining that the administration was not sure it could resolve the situation. “This is a victory for Massachusetts. A bad operator is gone.”
The human resources involved in the financial debacle – doctors, nurses and other staff – will continue to work for quality providers who understand quality care, Healey said.
