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NORWOOD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) – The Coalition to Rebuild Norwood Hospital held a rally on Sunday to reopen the town's hospital almost a year after a flood caused it to shut down.
Massachusetts Nurses Association co-chair Joan Ballantyne said the closure has but a real strain on local fire departments.
"Anyone who comes with an emergency has to be shipped to another town, and it puts a huge burden on our EMS services in Norwood," she said.
The coalition called for all public and private entities to re-build and re-open Norwood Hospital as a full-service hospital as soon as possible.
On June 28 last year, the hospital was damaged by flooding from a massive storm and closed. Steward Healthcare, the owner of Norwood Hospital, announced its intentions to rebuild the hospital at its current location on June 22.
Norwood Selectman Matt Lane said the company needed to release more details to ease public anxiety.
"It employed a ton of people and the economic spinoff was huge...for this to happen during a pandemic is even more detrimental," he said.
The coalition is made up of community advocates, faith leaders, nurses and healthcare professionals, union members and local officials.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Suzanne Sausville has the story:
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