Statement by Massachusetts Nurses Association Calling for Action by State Government to Prevent Loss of Steward Hospitals

Coming Days and Weeks Are Crucial in Effort to Avoid Public Health Disaster for Patients and Communities Across Eastern Mass

CANTON, Mass., Aug. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Commonwealth continues to struggle to protect hundreds of thousands of residents whose health and safety has been placed in jeopardy by the Steward crisis, the next few days and weeks are critical, not only for the survival of these hospitals, but for the impact the potential loss of these facilities will have on the entire health care system across Eastern Massachusetts. Our success or failure as a state depends on the WILLINGNESS of all stakeholders to act, and none more so than our leaders throughout State Government who are ultimately responsible for protecting and ensuring the public health for ALL our residents.

Let us be clear, for nurses , health professionals and the entire health care workforce who have held the line throughout this process and are at the epicenter of this crisis working on the frontlines of these hospitals, as well as those providing care in the facilities surrounding the Steward-impacted hospitals, the loss of Carney, Nashoba or any one of these hospitals would deal a devastating blow to our already overwhelmed hospital system, and as such there is no medical or moral justification for inaction by any party involved in this process.

Bankruptcy Court's Rejection of Leases Opens Door to Securing New Operators

Coming out of last week's bankruptcy court hearing, we were relieved that the court appropriately rejected the master lease covering the Massachusetts hospitals. We fully support this decision as necessary to allowing new operators to negotiate new lease terms with the landlord (Medical Properties Trust and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners) for these hospitals. Negotiating new terms for lease and/or acquisition was and is the only way to ensure these hospitals are operationally viable for qualified bidders. We hope the stakeholders took to heart the judge's urging that they negotiate through the weekend in preparation for a hearing on this issue in Houston on Tuesday.

As to the fate of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, it is important to note that while the Bankruptcy Court's ruling authorized the closure of Nashoba Valley and Carney, it did not mandate closure. As such, there is still an avenue to save those facilities as the court's relief from the previous onerous lease arrangement provides a renewed opportunity to revisit and engage with potential bidders for those two hospitals. The hope is that ongoing efforts by advocates and the state can facilitate finding new operators to save these facilities. We remain fully engaged in efforts to preserve these hospitals for these vulnerable communities and would ask all stakeholders to do the same.

We are pleased to learn that the Governor has stated that her administration supports Steward's adherence to the state law requiring 120 days' notice before the closure of Carney and Nashoba to allow for a transition to a new operator, and we call on the Attorney General to exercise her authority to enforce that law.

Menu of Options for State Action to Save All Impacted Hospitals and Protect Communities

In the event the bankruptcy process fails to protect these hospitals and the communities they serve, the MNA has and continues to call on our state's leaders to exhaust every avenue open to us to protect the public health, including the following options:

• We, along with a growing number of community members and policy makers call on the Governor and local Mayors to declare a public health emergency and exercise state and municipal power under that declaration to prevent closures while viable bidders for all the Steward facilities are found and secured. On Wednesday, the Boston City Council will be discussing a resolution to declare such an emergency.
• We call on Speaker Mariano and Senate President Spilka to access whatever funds are needed from the $8 billion rainy day fund to maintain operation of the Steward facilities and to provide bridge funding to secure viable bidders for these hospitals and to foster a safe transition to new ownership. If the loss of these or any hospital impacted by this crisis doesn't constitute a "rainy day" worthy of accessing these resources to protect these communities, then we don't know what does.
• And if all else fails, we believe state and local leaders should explore the opportunity of seizing these hospitals by eminent domain as a means of preserving access to life saving care. This week, the City of Methuen is contemplating this option, as are other municipalities.

For the residents of the Commonwealth, no community is expendable, and all deserve our protection. Our state leaders, along with all stakeholders in this crisis have a pivotal choice to make in the crucial days that follow: we can sit back and allow a corrupt corporation and a limited bankruptcy process to dictate our fate and facilitate an unprecedented public health disaster, or we can all work together, utilizing all of our resources and the tools at our disposal to take back control of our health care system for the good of all. As stated above, the outcome of this process and the lives of thousands rests on those charged with protecting the Commonwealth having the moral courage and the willingness to act.

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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 health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association