AYER, MASS. (WHDH) - People are rallying around Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, one of two Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts that are set to close in less than a week.
Hundreds of demonstrators formed a human chain around the medical center Monday to show their support and to emphasize how critical the hospital is for their community.
“My husband had two strokes. I drove him in, he couldn’t talk, so I didn’t know what was wrong with him and he fell. If this hospital wasn’t 10 minutes down the road, he wouldn’t be here,” said Kim George, the wife of a Nashoba Valley patient.
Both Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital in Dorchester are set to close at the end of the month. This comes after their parent company, Steward Health Care, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
Gov. Maura Healey said Monday that the state remains in the process of finalizing agreements to transfer ownership of the other six bankrupt Steward Health Care centers in Massachusetts. However, the state said it could not find a qualified buyer for Nashoba Valley or Carney.
“From the beginning, my focus has been on protecting patients, protecting jobs, and saving hospitals,” Healey said.
However, the Massachusetts Nurses Association said it isn’t enough. The association continues to call on the Healey administration to do what it can to keep both Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital open.
The closures will cut off communities from healthcare access, the MNA said.
“The state must step in or people will die,” said Katie Murphy, president of the MNA. “That’s not being dramatic. That really will happen.”
One of the remaining unknown factors is what will happen with the patients currently hospitalized at Nashoba Valley and Carney come Aug. 31, the MNA said.
“We pretty much have no plan other than the other hospitals will swallow up the workload,” said Betty Watari, who has worked at Nashoba Valley for 12 years.
In a memo to Steward last week, the Department of Public Health voiced concerns about continuity of care and called on the company to provide a more detailed plan for how they will transfer patients.
“As far as I can tell, Steward is not answering that question of where the patients are going to go, how they’re going to make sure their care is uninterrupted,” Murphy said.
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