This Feb. 4, 2025, photo shows the Cape Cod and Islands Community Mental Health Center in Pocasset.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has hit the brakes on plans to close two state-run hospitals in Canton and Cape Cod, saying she wants to bring the communities together to discuss the path forward.
Healey's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would have closed Canton's Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children and Pocasset Mental Health Center in Bourne. But the community had been pushing back against the plan, and earlier this month, Healey Pappas for a tour and conversations with people who work and are treated there.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
On Monday, she said in a statement she'd asked the departments of public and mental health to pause the closure plans, "so that we can bring together a diverse group of stakeholders – including patients, families, labor, local officials, and medical professionals– to conduct a further review of the care offered at these facilities and make recommendations on the best path forward to ensure we are providing the highest quality of care with the resources at hand."
Healey's budget team had said Massachusetts could save about $31 million by shifting Pappas programs to another state-run hospital in Westfield and opening up a pediatric wing there. The Department of Public Health said the closure partially stems from deteriorating facility conditions at Pappas and the state's strategy to improve care for medically complex patients.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
Of Pocasset, Healey had said it has a "low utilization rate," though providers and lawmakers said that half of the building is empty because the state closed a "partial hospital program" there last year. There were also warnings that closing the 16-bed state-run psychiatric hospital also known as the Cape Cod & Islands Community Mental Health Center could exacerbate unmet mental health care needs and ultimately cost the state more money.
