AYER, Mass. - Nurses, elected leaders and community members packed the Ayer Town Hall on Tuesday to speak out against plans to shut down Nashoba Valley Medical Center, calling on Gov. Maura Healey to work with Steward Health Care on a solution that doesn’t involve closing the hospital.

Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Middlesex and Worcester) revealed there’s been some encouraging developments happening behind the scenes as the company’s planned closing date of August 31 approaches.

“There are serious interest of bids from other hospital networks, from other potential buyers for the Nashoba Valley Medical Center,” Eldridge said. “These are nothing that are specific, nothing that is public right now, but what we do know is that there have been conversations about the possibility of finding a buyer to protect and keep Nashoba Valley Medical Center open.”

Concerned nurses, first responders and nearby residents have warned closing the hospital could have devastating impacts on emergency response times.

Kelly Miller, an ER nurse at Nashoba Valley Medical Center, has a unique perspective on these concerns - she’s also been a patient, and credits her recovery from a 2015 stroke to a rapid EMS response.

“It would have been horrifying being in the circumstances I was in being transported to a town 45 minutes away,” Miller said. “I had my stroke at five in the afternoon, that’s rush hour traffic.”

Miller lives in nearby Townsend, and has worked at Nashoba Valley for 26 years. When she learned of Steward Health Care’s plans to close the hospital, she initially wondered what it might mean for her career, and where she could find another job. Rather quickly, she found herself more concerned with what it could mean for patients.

“You see this stuff on the news and think, ‘Oh, it’s too bad that it will close’ not realizing that it’s a roll of the dice whether you or your family member will be in that predicament where it’s January, 5:30, and your loved one is having chest pains.”

Fire and EMS crews who have spoken with Spectrum News 1 about the planned closure estimate response times could nearly double if Nashoba Valley Medical Center shuts down, tying up ambulances and leaving people like Miller who live in rural communities with few options to get help in an emergency.

“There is very little transport in this area. We’re not a city,” Miller said. “We don’t have taxis, there’s limited Uber and Lyft. We have a crisis on our hands that’s going to be impactful and life-threatening, and that’s not a dramatic statement.”

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Healey told reporters recently that it was Steward’s decision to close the hospitals, and there’s 'nothing the state can do.'

“We are in this situation, and it’s outrageous that we are in this situation, all because of the greed of one individual, Ralph de la Torre, and the management team at Steward,” Healey said. “I know Steward is not trustworthy and that’s why I’ve said from the beginning I want Steward out of Massachusetts yesterday.”

According to court documents, the state is providing Steward Health Care $30 million to help transition six of its hospitals to new ownership, but Nashoba Valley Medical Center is currently without a buyer.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association claims closing Nashoba Valley Medical Center without providing 120 days notice violates state law.

Steward Health Care filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. The company owns eight hospitals operating primarily in Eastern Massachusetts.