North County

Steward Health Care said late Wednesday night that it has again postponed the sales hearing for its hospitals in Massachusetts, this time to next Thursday.

The rail line stretching along the northern tier of Massachusetts to Greenfield and North Adams is a "strategic asset," state transportation officials said in a new report this week, but the benefits of restoring passenger service in the region -- with a price tag of up to $2.96 billion -- "may not offset the capital costs."

Steve Roach, the president and CEO of two UMass Memorial Health hospitals in Marlborough and Leominster, departed from the Worcester-based healthcare system in June.

Tuesday's bankruptcy court hearing on the sale of as many as five Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts has been postponed until Friday.

Further beautification efforts may soon be underway in Leominster as the City’s Façade Improvement Program has been awarded $12,000 from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp., the economic development branch of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce.

Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre was on vacation two weeks ago when his company revealed that it planned to close two hospitals in Massachusetts, but he didn't have a hand in the decision or any say in the timing of the announcement, a spokesperson for the embattled executive said Thursday.

With frustrations mounting over the closure of Carney Hospital at the end of August, the Boston City Council adopted a resolution Wednesday calling for a public health emergency and applying new pressure on the state to protect patient care.

"Things are moving quickly I think right now in the bankruptcy court," Healey told reporters at the State House. "I'm cautiously optimistic but it's right now in the hands of the lenders."

State public health officials have scheduled public hearings on Steward Health Care's plans to close Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer later this month.

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.