Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
Updated 9/27/24 3:24 p.m.
BOSTON (State House News Service) — Massachusetts has officially exercised its eminent domain powers to seize St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, Gov. Maura Healey's office said Friday, days before Steward Health Care's hospitals are poised to transfer to new operators.
Healey in mid-August announced her plan to take St. Elizabeth's through eminent domain, knocking Steward's landlord and lenders at the time for failing to agree to a deal that would allow the hospital to stay open. The seizure ultimately allows Boston Medical Center to take over operations at St. Elizabeth's.
The governor's office said that as part of the legal process to take the hospital, Healey declared that if St. Elizabeth’s were to close, "it would create a public health emergency due to the large volume of patients currently served by the hospital and the resulting disruption to the delivery of medical services in the region." But a key Steward lender signaled Friday afternoon it would fight Healey's "unconstitutional use of eminent domain."
"While Apollo continues to put its greed ahead of the health and wellbeing of the people of Massachusetts, we are taking action to make sure St. Elizabeth's remains open," Healey said in a statement Friday morning. "By transferring operations to Boston Medical Center, we will protect access to care for tens of thousands of patients and save thousands of jobs. Our administration is committed to ensuring smooth transitions at the five Steward hospitals that we were able to save, and supporting the communities impacted by Steward's closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital."
Apollo Global Management, asked whether the company plans to challenge Healey's land taking, provided a statement from attorney Bill Reid of Reid Collins & Tsai LLP.
"Despite our repeated attempts to engage in reasonable negotiations, the Governor has initiated an unconstitutional use of eminent domain at the expense of Apollo's third-party investors," Reid said. "Taking the property for a fraction of the assessed value is theft and everyone in Massachusetts--every business owner and homeowner--should be concerned about this threat. As a fiduciary, Apollo is left with no choice but to continue pursuing litigation aimed at challenging the Governor’s unconstitutional use of eminent domain."
Unlike with St. Elizabeth's, the administration did not intervene to halt the closure of Carney in Dorchester and Nashoba in Ayer, which Healey attributed to the hospitals not receiving qualified bidders.
Healey's office described St. Elizabeth's as a "crucial provider" for underserved communities.
"Its closure would put vulnerable patients at risk who would no longer have access to emergency services, maternity care, behavioral health services and inpatient care," Healey's office said. "Further, inpatient capacity in the Boston area remains at record highs, and the more than 60 patients currently at St. Elizabeth's would not have immediate access to health care."
In the first step toward the eminent domain land taking, the state on Aug. 16 offered Steward's landlord and lenders $4.5 million "to purchase the fee and any other necessary property interests in St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center."
The governor called that amount the "appropriate and fair market value of that property." Boston assessor's office lists the assessed land value at 736 Cambridge St., where St. Elizabeth's is located, at just under $51 million.
Under state law, the governor has the authority to take property by eminent domain. The law says the governor "having first complied with all the preliminary requirements prescribed by law, may adopt an order of taking, which shall contain a description of the land taken sufficiently accurate for identification, and shall state the interest therein taken and the purpose for which such property is taken, and in case such taking is for an improvement for which betterments may be assessed shall state whether betterments are to be assessed therefor."
The firms controlling St. Elizabeth's real estate rejected the Healey administration's offer, saying it "significantly undervalues the real property underlying St. Elizabeth's."
"Accordingly, should the Commonwealth move forward with its proposed plan to exercise eminent domain and compensate ACREFI only $4.5 million for the property, ACREFI will have no choice but to exercise its constitutional and statutory rights and take any and all actions necessary to protect the interests of the investors to which it has fiduciary obligations," an Aug. 20 letter from the lender said. "ACREFI believes there are numerous procedural and constitutional issues raised by the Commonwealth's proposed plan and conduct to date that it will vigorously challenge."
A Healey spokesperson did not answer a News Service question about the cost of the taking but said the payment isn't due yet.
All of Steward's remaining Massachusetts hospitals are expected to be sold to their new operators on Monday.
State health regulators this week approved emergency determination of need applications to transfer ownership of Morton Hospital in Taunton and St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River to Lifespan, Holy Family Hospital with campuses in Haverhill and Methuen to Lawrence General Hospital, and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center to Boston Medical Center.
Written by Alison Kuznitz/SHNS
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