The Dorchester Reporter
By Bill Forry
August 19, 2024
Dorchester’s two representatives in Congress are calling on Gov. Maura Healey to intervene and prevent the closure of Carney Hospital.
U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch and Ayanna Pressley issued a joint statement on Saturday urging Healey and her administration to take urgent action — much like what she announced on Friday: that the state plans to use its eminent domain powers to seize St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center and bring in Boston Medical Center to take over operations.
“The public health crisis created by Steward Health Care’s shameful greed demands an aggressive response that holds Steward accountable and protects the patients, providers, and communities they have failed,” U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch and Ayanna Pressley said in a joint statement Saturday. “The agreement announced yesterday by the Healey-Driscoll Administration — especially the seizure of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton — is the type of pivotal action needed in this moment, and we urge the Commonwealth to move with the same level of urgency to keep Carney Hospital in Dorchester open as well.”
In making their case, Pressley and Lynch join a growing list of Boston elected officials who are urging Healey and her team to change course.
Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune issued a statement on Friday that said— in part: “In light of the governor’s actions to protect other Steward hospitals, I respectfully call for consideration on a similar approach for Carney, even as a temporary bridge until a long-term solution emerges, whether from investors, community, or a mixture of both.”
Other key elected officials who have joined in calling for a halt to the Carney closure include City Councillor Julia Mejia, Sen. Liz Miranda, City Councillors Brian Worrell, John FitzGerald, Ed Flynn, and Erin Murphy.
Senator Nick Collins, who has been calling for a state and city intervention at Carney for the last two months, has repeatedly made the case that the state has the money and the wherewithal to step-in. Friday’s announcement by Gov. Healey about St. Elizabeth’s— which took many by surprise— supported one of the key arguments made by Collins and other allies: That Healey and her administration can take extraordinary action.
“With the recent announcement of the $600m tobacco settlement reached by the Attorney General just days ago, it is clear we have the money to save our community hospitals,” Collins said on Friday. “State and City health officials should now come together to take the same type of bold action to save Carney Hospital as well.”
But Healey — in her announcement on Friday— made it a point to say the news doesn’t impact Carney or Nashoba Valley, “which will close after not receiving qualified bids.”
Steward has received court approval to close those hospitals by Aug. 31.
“We don’t have an operator” willing to buy Carney or Nashoba, Healey said Friday when asked why the state did not take the same action for the hospitals that will be closing. “That’s the difference.”
“The state cannot run a hospital, hospital systems have to run hospitals,” the governor said Friday. “And the difference here is we had five hospitals where hospital systems, as acquirers, came forward to take over operations. That unfortunately did not happen with Carney or Nashoba. If one were to miraculously appear, that would be another thing.”
Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy case and hospital sales process will continue to unfold in a Texas bankruptcy court this week, as Healey and other top Democrats gather in Illinois for the Democratic National Convention.
The full statement by Rep. Pressley and Rep. Lynch follows:
“The public health crisis created by Steward Health Care’s shameful greed demands an aggressive response that holds Steward accountable and protects the patients, providers, and communities they have failed. The agreement announced yesterday by the Healey-Driscoll Administration—especially the seizure of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton—is the type of pivotal action needed in this moment, and we urge the Commonwealth to move with the same level of urgency to keep Carney Hospital in Dorchester open as well.
“We remain outraged and devastated for everyone who will be harmed by Carney’s closure, including the veterans, low-income, Black and Brown communities, and non-English speakers who depend on Carney for life-saving care. Since 2022, Carney Hospital has helped tens of thousands of patients that reside in Boston, and we are very concerned about the lack of nearby healthcare sites that have the capacity and resources to provide emergency room services to residents in the area.
“This crisis was entirely preventable, were it not for Steward Health Care putting profits over people, and their CEO Ralph De La Torre will leave a damning legacy of hurt and harm in the Massachusetts 7th and 8th Districts and across the entire Commonwealth. We will continue to demand full accountability and work together to build a just healthcare system that affirms it as a human right, and prevent crises like these from ever happening again.”
A State House News Service report contributed to this story.
https://www.dotnews.com/2024/lynch-pressley-call-healey-prevent-carney-hospitals-closure
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