The Healey administration reported progress in the takeover process for six hospital campuses owned by bankrupt Steward Health Care Friday evening, the eve of the closure of two other Steward facilities in Massachusetts.
The communities of Ayer and Boston's Dorchester neighborhood were bracing for what may be "chaos" as their local hospitals were unable to be saved. But as the final overnight shifts at Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital were beginning, Gov. Maura Healey announced that Steward reached an agreement to transfer operations of St. Elizabeth's in Brighton to Boston Medical Center, and that the BMC had signed an agreement to purchase Brockton's Good Samaritan Hospital.
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That's in addition to similar agreements being signed Thursday to transfer both Holy Family Hospital campuses, in Lawrence and Methuen, to Lawrence General Hospital as well as Fall River's Saint Anne's Hospital and Taunton's Morton Hospital to Lifespan.
"We'll continue to press ahead with our plans to take St. Elizabeth's by eminent domain to keep that hospital open," Healey said in a statement, adding that her administration recognizes "the pain and concern caused by Steward's closures of Nashoba Valley and Carney, and we want to assure their communities and staff that we are doing everything we can to support them through this transition."
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More on Steward Health Care
The agreements are pending the approval of a bankruptcy hearing in federal court Wednesday, officials said.
For locals and hospital staff at Carney Hospital, its 7 a.m. closure is the end of a very sad saga — one Mary Ann Rockett has been through before.
Steward Health Care shut down Quincy Hospital in 2020, sending Mary Ann to Carney shortly after. Now it's onto the next stop.
"When you get into some larger facilities, they just have so much. They don't have quite the same personalized care," said Rockett, "we'll see what happens at Good Samaritan. It's a bigger hospital than Carney."
But Dorchester benefits from other hospitals and resources around it. In the more rural area around Ayer, Nashoba Valley Medical Center is an oasis in a health care desert.
"We're going to have chaos," said Ayer Select Board Member Jannice Livingston, "There are so many people that don't realize the hospital is closing."
As both communities scramble to lay out next steps, local leaders say they're hard at work trying to find solutions.
"We're going to make sure something else comes here and opens up that offers health care services," said District 3 Boston City Councilor John Fitzgerald.
"I don't want to give anyone false hope, but there is chatter that something could change after this weekend," said State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, referring to Nashoba Valley Medical Center.
In the meantime, an ambulance will be posted at both health care sites for the next seven days to care for anyone unaware of the closures.
Healey's office described the ambulance presence earlier Friday along with other steps meant to ease the pain on patients, area residents and workers, as well as that the Executive Office of Health and Human Services is in discussion with UMass Memorial Health and other providers around Nashoba Valley "with the goal of reimagining future care on the Nashoba Valley Medical Center campus."
"UMass Memorial Health is considering alternative possibilities, such as converting the hospital's emergency room into an urgent care facility," Healey's office said. "While these discussions are in the early stages, there will be continued collaboration with UMass to attempt to provide an alternative healthcare option for residents."
State House News Service contributed to this report.
