With more than 200,000 residents served by nine hospitals currently owned by Steward, communities remain in the dark on long-term solutions to protect the future of care across the Commonwealth.
BOSTON, MA – As Steward’s loan agreement nears its April 30th deadline, a growing coalition of residents, healthcare workers, business, community, labor and faith-based organizations has come together to ensure the voice of the patients and communities are centered in decisions to protect care at nine hospitals. The coalition, Our Community | Our Hospital, is calling on elected officials and stakeholders to take appropriate steps to help avoid service reductions and hospital closures that would worsen health outcomes and create hospital deserts in the state.
The coalition has launched an online petition in an effort to move public officials and stakeholders to secure new ownership of the Steward facilities… “to ensure the patients and families long-served by these institutions continue to have access to the care and services they provide for generations to come”
The coalition of community advocates came together in late March, and will hold seven rallies and forums in an around a number of Steward-owned hospitals including:
Morton Hospital Community Rally
Tuesday, April 23 at 3:45 p.m.
At Taunton Green, Taunton
Good Samaritan Medical Center Community Forum
Wednesday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m.
At Keating Hall, 800 Perkins Ave., Brockton
Holy Family Hospital/Methuen Community Rally
Wednesday, April 24 at 3 p.m.
14-274 Berkeley St., Methuen
Holy Family Hospital/Haverhill Community Rally
Wednesday, April 24 at 4:30 p.m.
Lincoln Ave. and Brown St., Haverhill
St. Anne’s Hospital Community Rally
Thursday, April 25 at 3:30 p.m.
At Kennedy Park, 132 Bradford Ave., Fall River
Carney Hospital Community Forum
Thursday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m.
At St. Gregory’s Auditorium, 2214 Dorchester Ave., Boston
St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center Community Forum
Monday, April 29 at 3:00 p.m.
In Front of Hospital, 738 Cambridge St., Brighton
The Our Community/Our Hospital petition makes clear what is at stake with the potential closure of these facilities and the need for all involved to preserve them, stating “the loss of any of these facilities will deliver a devastating blow to the entire health care infrastructure in the Commonwealth, particularly to some of the most vulnerable and marginalized patients and families who will be subject to dangerous delays in care, be forced to travel longer distances for care, and for many, to go without care altogether… the critical task now is for all stakeholders and policymakers to come together to secure new ownership of the Steward facilities and to create appropriate processes and oversight to ensure a safer, more equitable not for profit health care system that places a concern for the public’s health over private wealth.”
More than 200,000 residents from the Merrimack Valley to the South Coast are served by nine hospitals currently owned by Steward Healthcare including: St. Elizabeth’s in Brighton, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Holy Family Hospital in Methuen and Haverhill Hospital in Haverhill, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Norwood Hospital in Norwood, and St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River. These hospitals are among the largest employers in our communities, with more than 16,000 workers and caregivers, who not only safeguard care, but also contribute to the economic health of our small businesses, cities, and towns.
