MNA: DPH to Hold Public Hearing (May 18th at 6 p.m.) on Proposed Closure of 32-Bed Substance Abuse Treatment Unit At Steward Morton Hospital in Taunton

Local Officials, nurses and community advocates to testify in strong opposition to the closure of what DPH in 2021 already deemed essential to the region

The proposed closure comes as local hospital emergency departments are already overburdened with patients waiting for addiction treatment beds

BOSTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Public Health will hold a legally required public hearing on the proposed closure of the 32-bed MORCAP (Morton Comprehensive Addiction Program), located at Steward Morton Hospital in Taunton. A number of public officials, nurses and community advocates are expected to testify in strong opposition to the closure as they claim it will only add to a growing crisis in the region, as local hospital emergency departments are already overburdened with patients waiting for addiction treatment beds and services. 

What: The Department of Public Health, as required by law, will conduct a virtual public hearing on the closure of the service via telephone. Members of the public and other interested parties may join the hearing by phone by calling: 888-390-5007 Passcode: 8688080

When: Thursday, May 18, 2023 from 6 ? 9 p.m.

The MORCAP facility provides desperately needed alcohol/substance abuse detox and recovery services to the people of Southeastern Massachusetts. The service was previously called the NORCAP Lodge and located in Foxboro, where it was affiliated with Steward Good Samaritan Medical Center. In 2021, Steward initiated its closing, but later decided to move the service to Morton Hospital in Taunton. In response to the initial closure proposal, the DPH had deemed it an essential service to the region to preserve the public health in the community. Advocates contend it remains an essential service for the region. In pursuing the closing, Steward has floated a plan to replace the service by opening beds at Carney Hospital in Dorchester.

"We intend to express strong opposition to the closing of this service as we believe it will only add to an already growing crisis for residents of this region, a region which has desperate need for the services this program provides," said Katie Murphy, RN, President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents the nurses who work at Morton Hospital and the MORCAP unit. "We oppose its closing because it will only add to the unprecedented process of patients with substance abuse and behavioral health issues boarding in this region's hospital emergency departments and because we believe it is ludicrous for anyone to claim that it is appropriate to close a service for a population of patients in Taunton and Brockton to potentially access that service in Dorchester."

MNA Calls for Greater State Scrutiny and Oversight of Hospital Service Closures

This closing is the latest in a line of service closures by hospital systems in recent years, including the loss of behavior health beds, maternity, pediatric, oncology and other services; services in most every case the DPH has deemed to be essential to those communities. Yet DPH lacks the authority to stop such closures and in nearly every case, the providers closed those services. In response to this dangerous trend, the MNA has filed two pieces of legislation that would provide communities and officials with more data and more power to protect needed services. 

An Act Relative to the Closing of Hospital Essential Services will:

• Extend the official notice period to the DPH in advance of a closure or discontinuation of health services.
• Require any hospital proposing closure or discontinuation of health services to provide evidence of having notified and provided the opportunity for comment from affected municipalities before the notification period begins.
• Instruct the Attorney General to seek an injunction to maintain the essential services for the duration of the notice period.
• Prohibit the hospital from eligibility for an application for licensure or expansion for a period of three years from the date the service is discontinued, or until the essential health service is restored, or until such time as the DPH is satisfied with a modified plan.
• Prohibit the closure of beds, units, or facilities during any declared state of emergency pertaining to health care.

The Hospital Essential Service Accessibility Act will:

• Require the Department of Public Health in consultation with the Health Policy Commission to commission a study analyzing and delineating the existing cadre of services provided by the state's acute care medical and psychiatric hospitals based on the need for those services in all regions of the Commonwealth, with recommendations as how to ensure access to those services.

"By allowing these closures, our public health system demonstrates to already vulnerable and marginalized groups that their interests do not matter," Murphy said. "The Commonwealth must put patient and community needs at the forefront of this decision-making process.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on healthcare issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association