If Dorchester residents thought they would hear good news about the fate of their community hospital during a health board hearing, officials quickly dashed those hopes when they said there was nothing they could do to stop what was happening.
The state cannot and will not stand in the way of Steward Health Care’s closure of Carney Hospital, DPH Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein told a crowd of hundreds at Florian Hall on Tuesday.
“The Department of Health has neither the ability nor the authority to prevent or refuse to close a hospital. We cannot force a hospital to remain open, especially if doing so would jeopardize the quality of care or patient safety,” Goldstein said.
Even if the city of Boston could simply declare a public health emergency, it cannot afford to keep the hospital open and will not take that route, said Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Boston’s public health commissioner.
“As the city’s local health department, we cannot prevent the closure of Carney Hospital, and I regret to say that,” she said.
“Some have suggested that we declare a public health emergency. Declaring a public health emergency does not give the city, Mayor Wu or me the regulatory authority, the licensing authority and most importantly the money necessary to operate Carney Hospital even in the short term. That is why we will not declare a public health emergency,” Ojikutu said.
This did not go down well with the audience.
“Bullshit,” said a woman in the audience as Goldstein resigned and then apologized for being from Dorchester.
“Ugh,” she said a moment later when Ojikutu spoke.
Boston City Councilman Ed Flynn seemed to agree.
When Flynn, who formerly worked as a security guard for Carney, took the microphone, he directed his comments directly at the DPH staff conducting the hearing and the two public health officials, saying there was nothing they could do to prevent Dorchester from becoming a health desert.
“I do not accept the assumption that the city of Boston or the state of Massachusetts cannot keep this hospital open,” he said. “We have the ability to keep it open if we have the moral courage to do so. This is a public safety issue, it is a public health issue, it is an emergency. My friends, it is also a civil rights issue.”
Steward Health Care, which owns Carney and seven other hospitals in Massachusetts, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, citing $9 billion in debt. The company said it must sell its hospital properties to meet those obligations, but it will try to keep the facilities operating during the sale process.
At an auction in July, most of the hospitals received bids, but not Carney or Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. Steward later announced that the two hospitals would close.
Dr. Octavio Diaz, Steward’s president for the Northeast region, said closing Carney was the only way forward for the company if it wanted to ensure the health of its patients.
“I share this community’s love for this hospital,” he said. “Closing a hospital is painful and there is nothing I can say today that would make it any easier. The closure of Carney Hospital, while deeply regrettable, is also inevitable.”
“Carney Hospital will close its doors on August 31, 2024, as ordered by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court,” Diaz said.
The focus should now be on transferring patients to new facilities, he said.
Boston City Councilman John Fitzgerald rejected this thinking.
“I don’t know what stage I’m in anymore, right? Anger, denial – whatever comes after that – but I know what stage I’m not going to get to, and that’s acceptance. It’s impossible to accept that there’s nothing to do and our hands are tied. It’s impossible for me to accept that the Carney is going to close and there’s nothing we can do to help the nurses, the patients and the small business that supports it. I can’t get to that on a personal level,” he said.
The closure of Carney, said radiology nurse Maryanne Murphy, would permanently change the face of Dorchester.
“I have been at Carney for over 40 years. This hospital is so important to this community. It was so for my parents who worked there, for my brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and all the cousins who all worked there and were very dedicated to their work. We are one big family here at Carney. You are not just a patient – you are our friend and our neighbor,” she said.
“What will you do if this place closes? Where will you get your medical care?” she asked.
Texas-based federal bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez approved the closure of Carney and Nashoba Valley, citing the stewards’ business interests during the bankruptcy proceedings.
Steward also owns Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Holy Family Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton. The company’s Norwood Hospital has been closed since 2020 due to flooding, and the company permanently closed New England Sinai Hospital in April.
