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.
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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association