North County

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Tuesday approved the agreement that Massachusetts state government made to provide $30 million in advance Medicaid payments to keep a handful of Steward Health Care hospitals here open through August as the company tries to sell them.

AMSC seeks to bolster its growing presence in the defense sector through the $61.4-million purchase of a NWL, a New Jersey-based firm.

Nine Worcester County nonprofits including healthcare organizations, schools, and places of worship received nearly half a million in state grants to finance security updates needed to protect them from potential hate crimes and terror attacks.

A Fitchburg-based cannabis cultivation is seeking to construct a new extraction lab to its facility, but lingering odor issues impacting neighbors near the site are creating complications.

More than 100 nurses from Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center flooded the hallway outside Gov. Maura Healey's office Wednesday morning, demanding that the state intervene and prevent bankrupt Steward Health Care from closing two hospitals in August.

A group of companies that are owed money from bankrupt Steward Health Care want a judge to mandate changes to the agreement that Massachusetts state government has to provide $30 million to support Steward hospitals "as they are transitioned to new operators in the near-term," taking issue with the way the deal gives the state the power to claw back the money.

Gov. Maura Healey said Monday that she lacks the authority to keep two Steward Health Care hospitals open, after the bankrupt company signaled Friday its intent to flout state regulations by prematurely shuttering Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.

A proposed order filed in the Steward Health Care bankruptcy case outlines a "commitment" from state government in Massachusetts to provide $30 million to support Steward hospitals "as they are transitioned to new operators in the near-term."

Gardner-based GFA Federal Credit Union has appointed a new member to its board of directors as Charles Bowles has announced his retirement following a 40-year tenure with GFA. 

The bankrupt Steward Health Care said Friday that it is closing two of its hospitals here in the next month or so -- Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer -- that received no qualified bids in its sales process.