Staff at Carney Hospital in Dorchester have mobilized against the impending shutdown of their facility, staging a protest early this morning. They are pushing back against Steward Health Care, which announced the closures of Carney and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, citing bankruptcy complications.
The employees, some in work attire, held signs demanding the hospital remain open, highlighting the importance of the services they provide. Their sentiments were echoed by acute care nurse practitioner Stephen Wood, who remarked, "Seventy percent of the patients that we see are on Medicaid, right? There are no other places that take those patients that care as much as we do about those patients and provide them not just with the medical services. We feed them, we clothe them, we follow up with them. Right. It's imperative that we continue to serve this community," according to a WCVB interview.
The fiscal woes of Steward reportedly led to a bankruptcy filing earlier this year, after which the company stated its intention to sell its Massachusetts hospitals. Yet, negotiations to offload six of its hospitals are ongoing, while Carney and Nashoba saw no qualified bids emerge. As a result, Steward plans to shutter these facilities by the end of August. The announcement has drawn the ire of hospital staff, union representatives, and more broadly, from residents who rely on Carney's services, as reported by WHDH.
Statewide figures have been drawn into the controversy, with Governor Maura Healey advocating for compliance with state law requiring a 120-day notification ahead of a hospital's closure. The Massachusetts Nurses Association has called for even stronger interventions, declaring, "Our state leaders, along with all stakeholders in this crisis have a pivotal choice to make in the crucial days that follow: we can sit back and allow a corrupt corporation and a limited bankruptcy process to dictate our fate and facilitate an unprecedented public health disaster, or we can all work together, utilizing all of our resources and the tools at our disposal to take back control of our health care system for the good of all," as noted by WHDH.
Amid the protests and the call for government intervention, the fates of the hospital employees, and more significantly, the community members who depend on Carney’s healthcare services hang in the balance.
