DORCHESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Carney Hospital in Dorchester is facing possible closure due their parent company Steward Health Care’s financial situation.
Steward Health Care oversees nine facilities including Carney in the Commonwealth, all of which employ more than 16,000 nurses, doctors and other health care workers.
The Boston Globe first reported that Steward executives have been meeting with state officials this month to discuss their financial problems.
As the issues have been growing, state lawmakers started to take action to prevent the negative effects that hospital closures like Carney’s could create.
On Jan. 23, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey were joined by nine other Congressional members from Mass. in asking for Steward Health Care to brief them on the financial situation and threats of hospital closures.
In a press release, the lawmakers expressed their concern over the impacts of abrupt hospital closures on patients.
“The abrupt closure of Steward’s Massachusetts hospitals would significantly limit access to inpatient critical care and inpatient behavioral health care, as well as maternal and newborn health services in eastern Massachusetts,” said the lawmakers.
They added, “The burden of Steward hospital closures would be borne primarily by the Massachusetts residents who already experience the greatest challenges accessing health care.”
Dorchester community members who rely on Steward’s Carney Hospital expressed their concerns about the potential closure.
“It would impact the community in a negative way because you know Boston has the best hospitals. So to not have this resource near us would definitely take a toll on people’s health,” Trevaughn told WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas.
Trevaughn lives near Carney Hospital. “Hopefully, whatever they decide to do, they keep the hospital open,” he said.
“I mean I’ll probably have to go all the way to BMC [Boston Medical Center] because I’m not going to have a local hospital,” said another Dorchester community member, Malik, who is concerned about the possibility of Carney Hospital closing.
An option to keep hospitals like Carney open would be state receivership, and Malik said that “I think it would be good news" if it meant the hospital remained operational.
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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