Addressing the Nashoba Valley Medical Center Closing
Dear Friends and Supporters,
The recent news of Steward Health Care’s decision to close Nashoba Valley Medical Center is abhorrent and shows an utter lack of regard for the safety and well-being of our area.
At a press conference yesterday, I spoke to the devastating impact the decision will have on our region. My remarks were featured on CBS News, WCVB, and in the Lowell Sun.
Here is my full statement:
“We are here today because of corporate greed at its worst, a callous reminder of what happens when profit is put before people's health, people's lives.
Steward Hospital’s decision to close Nashoba Valley Medical Center is abhorrent and shows an utter lack of regard for the safety and well-being of our area. Our first responders have repeatedly warned that Nashoba Valley is a critical lifeline for our small towns – that lives will be lost without this emergency room – and those warnings have been ignored by Steward. While Ralph de la Torre lounges on one of his yachts, our residents will be paying the cost.
Shame on Steward.
Shame on Ralph de la Torre.
Shame on a healthcare system which puts profits over people.
But we’re also here today to stand alongside the hardworking medical professionals who fought valiantly to keep this hospital running in spite of Steward’s negligence. We’re here for our first responders who know the crushing impact this closure is going to have on 911 Emergency Medical Services.
As the Fire Chief in my home town Brian Borneman put it, “The domino effect of Nashoba closing, especially in its unique geographical area, with increased transport times, longer turnaround, and wait times at other hospitals will have a direct and negative impact on patient outcomes in all of the area towns.”
But most of all, we are here today for the patients, who relied on this hospital for routine and emergent care. My constituents continue to reach out to me and they tell stories of the lives saved at this ER, including a mother who wrote to me just the other day from the Nashoba Valley Medical Center ER as she waited for news of her 5-month-old son who was brought there after turning blue at home: Nashoba was their closest hospital, their lifeline.
Another wrote, "We have created crisis after crisis in healthcare by following financial gain and forgetting that people needing care could be us, our parents, our grandparents, our children, our partners. We need healthcare. We need mental healthcare. And we need access to more of it, not less. This closure will have a huge negative impact on our communities, our healthcare providers, and on the remaining hospital systems that are not sustainable."
The closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center is not the end of our fight to rid our Commonwealth of the shameful corruption of Steward Health Care. It is not the end of our fight to ensure healthcare professionals receive the working conditions and benefits they richly deserve. And it is certainly not the end of our fight to guarantee every patient has access to the high-quality care they are entitled to.
Our community has come together in opposition to this closure. Now, we must continue to stand together to chart a new path forward, one that puts people’s lives over corporate greed, and one that prevents our region from becoming a healthcare desert.”
Onward!
Margaret
