BOSTON — Nurses from both Steward Hospitals set to close this week, Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, stood on the steps of the State House Wednesday as one final push to save their hospitals.
What You Need To Know
- Nurses from both Steward Health hospitals plead with Gov. Healey to dip into the state’s rainy-day funds to save their hospitals.
- With the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center patients will have to travel miles to the next closest hospital for preventative and emergency care.
- According to Healey, they could not find a buyer for Nashoba Valley or Carney because Steward mismanaged finances and no one could assume that kind of financial risk.
- They will close Aug. 31 if they are not sold before then.
“Keep Nashoba care in Ayer,” yelled the crowd.
The sky was blue above the State House, but signs read “This is a rainy day, governor,” as nurses from both Steward Health hospitals pleaded with Gov. Maura Healey to dip into the state’s rainy-day funds to save their hospitals.
“People are going to die. It's very sad. It's heartbreaking,” Michelle Travers, Nashoba Valley Hospital nurse.
With the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center, patients will have to travel miles to the next closest hospital for preventative care. But what concerns these nurses the most is the emergency care when every minute matters.
“We invited her out to see Nashoba and see why this is really a crisis, to travel the route that has to be traveled to get patients from the far reaches of our service area to Nashoba, and then skip Nashoba and go to Emerson or Leominster or UMass,” said Denise Moniz, Nashoba Valley Hospital nurse. “It's just not safe for our patients. It's when minutes are critical. There are too many minutes involved.”
According to Healey, they could not find a buyer for Nashoba Valley or Carney because Steward mismanaged finances and no one could assume that kind of financial risk.
The nurses in front of the State House say people matter over profits.
“Taking care of your community. That's our passion,” said Moniz. “We take care of our neighbors, our families, our friends and we ourselves have become family. Like 'Nashoba Strong.' It's not just a saying, it's a belief. And we believe firmly that we are family and we're taking care of our family.”
The nurses Spectrum News 1 spoke with did not mention they will be out of jobs on Saturday when the hospital closes its doors. They say they are more worried about their patients.
Healey says she will entertain any offers they get to run these two hospitals but so far they haven’t found a buyer.