Construction on Ware's new Baystate Mary Lane Convenient Care facility is set to begin next month, Baystate Health says, marking a concrete step toward restoring medical care the town lost when its hospital shut its doors in 2023. The clinic will rise at 144 West St., the former home of the Smithland Pet and Garden Center, and is expected to be completed in late spring per Baystate's own statement.
As reported by MassLive, Baystate Health has completed final design work, local permitting, and a Department of Public Health regulatory review, and has now selected a general contractor to convert the former retail space into a medical facility. The new center will offer treatment for common illnesses and injuries, digital x-ray services, laboratory testing, and both scheduled appointments and walk-in visits, with evening and weekend hours built into the schedule, according to the same report.
A Long Road Back From Closure
Baystate Health announced the phased closure of Mary Lane Hospital in 2021 and shuttered it entirely in 2023, ending acute care at the facility that once stood at 85 South St. The decision followed a 2016 reduction in inpatient beds, after Baystate recorded an average of 28 emergency room visits per day there, with more than 85% of those patients arriving with conditions manageable in primary care, according to West Mass Development. Since the emergency department closed, most patients and services shifted to Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer, nine miles away.
The former 85 South St. campus has seen demolition, with the Wetherby Building and portions of another building remaining.
Unlocking an Early 20th-Century Trust
Funding the new clinic required untangling a century-old legal arrangement. The Ware Visiting Nurse and Hospital Association was founded in 1909, and Mary Lane Hospital was constructed from 1922 to 1924, completing in September 1924. The hospital received a $500,000 bequest in 1919 from textile industrialist Lewis Gilbert, whose will required that any healthcare facility supported by his endowment permanently bear his late wife's name, according to Quabbin House. The Gilbert family had built its fortune running broadcloth mills along the Ware River.
That bequest grew into the $8 million Lewis Gilbert Trust, which early 20th-century probate terms restricted to supporting local health care. In February 2026, Baystate Health became the trust's beneficiary, with the modification preserving the original intent that a healthcare facility supported by the endowment bear Mary Lane's name. Baystate has said the clinic will run an ongoing annual operating deficit of several hundred thousand dollars.
Town Hall Oversight
The path to this point wasn't without local friction. In July 2025, the Ware Selectboard voted 3-1 to let town legal counsel coordinate with trust manager Bank of America on Baystate's clinic plan. The town later posted missing minutes. Some community members had campaigned to shift trust oversight to a local community foundation instead of Baystate.
Part of a Bigger Regional Picture
The Ware project lands amid a period of rapid growth for Baystate Health. In April 2026, the system reached a deal to acquire Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, expanding its footprint across western Massachusetts even as it scales back inpatient capacity in smaller towns like Ware. For residents of the Quaboag Valley, though, the more immediate story is simpler: construction is set to begin next month, with completion expected in late spring, after years of closures, demolition, and legal wrangling.
