State to deploy ambulances, in talks with UMass Memorial about possibly repurposing Nashoba Valley Medical Center come closure
Photo I Courtesy of State House News Source
Nashoba Valley Medical Center is one of two Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts that is slated to close by Aug. 31, 2024.
The state is arranging to have ambulances on standby outside both Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester for a week after the hospitals close Saturday morning and is in talks to repurpose the Ayer hospital in some way, the governor's office said Friday.
The two Steward Health Care hospitals close at 7 a.m. Saturday, leaving about 1,200 people out of work and further limiting the health care options for residents in Dorchester and the Nashoba Valley region. An independent overseer warned this week that the "toxic combination" of longer emergency response and transport times and overtaxed emergency departments "will lead to dire results for patients needing emergency care" in northern Middlesex County.
Suzanne Koenig, a health care management consultant serving as patient care ombudsman during Steward's bankruptcy, said Steward and the state should at least provide funding for ambulances to be stationed outside the closed hospitals to stabilize and transport anyone who goes there for emergency care up to a week after the closures.
Gov. Maura Healey's office announced Friday that is is "organizing stand-by ambulances at both hospitals 24/7 for seven days following closure," in addition to a suite of other steps meant to ease the pain on patients, area residents and workers.
"We've heard the concerns raised by the communities and staff impacted by Steward's plans to close Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center. We share their frustration – Massachusetts communities should never have been put in this position," Healey said. "Our teams have been preparing for this, and we will ensure that residents continue to have access to high-quality medical care and that all staff is connected to new employment opportunities at other facilities."
The governor's office also announced Friday afternoon 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."
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