Local News Here’s how many employees are slated to lose their jobs in latest Steward closures Over 1,000 healthcare employees will have to find new jobs. A person holds a sign reading “Protect Our Health: Keep Carney Hospital Open” while standing at Carney Hospital in Dorchester. (Andrew Burke-Stevenson for The Boston Globe)
Steward Health Care will lay off 1,243 employees by the end of the month due to the closure of Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.
Dallas-based Steward Health Care notified the state on July 29 that it would lay off 753 employees at Carney Hospital and 490 at Nashoba Valley Medical Center. Both layoffs will be effective on Aug. 31.
In a statement shared with the Boston Globe, the company said more than 1,000 positions are open at Steward’s other hospitals in the state, and it is holding job fairs to arrange transfers.
“The decision to close both Carney and Nashoba hospitals is one we deeply regret having to make,” the statement said.
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Steward, a for-profit healthcare chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 6 and is working to auction off its hospitals and physician group, Stewardship Health.
A spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey shared a statement with the Globe on Saturday that faulted “irresponsible business tactics” by Steward and its chief executive, Ralph de la Torre, for the upcoming hospital closures.
“These nurses and health care workers have come to work day after day amid all of this uncertainty and selflessly served their patients,” said Karissa Hand, the spokesperson.
Employers are required by law to notify the state, local officials and employees at least 60 days before a mass layoff or worksite closure.
The state also has a law requiring hospital operators to give 120 days’ notice before closing.
However, the health system received approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Chris Lopez to close both hospitals by Aug. 31.
Mayor Michelle Wu said Saturday that the city will fight any attempt to redevelop the property as anything other than a healthcare site.
In a July filing in bankruptcy court, Steward said the company was running out of money to fund their operations, prompting the closure of the two hospitals. According to the Globe, Carney lost $14.7 million through the first five months of the year, and Nashoba Valley lost $2.3 million.
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According to the filing, both hospitals also lost patients due to the pending closures. Carney had 49 patients, and Nashoba Valley had 31.
A spokesperson for Healey told the Globe that many workers at Carney and Nashoba Valley have already found new jobs, and the administration expects the remaining employees to do the same.
On Monday, the Massachusetts Nurses Association called on Healey’s office to prevent the closure of the two hospitals.
“For the residents of the Commonwealth, no community is expendable, and all deserve our protection,” the statement said.
“Our state leaders, along with all stakeholders in this crisis, have a pivotal choice to make in the crucial days that follow: we can sit back and allow a corrupt corporation and a limited bankruptcy process to dictate our fate and facilitate an unprecedented public health disaster, or we can all work together, utilizing all of our resources and the tools at our disposal to take back control of our health care system for the good of all.”
Here’s how many employees are slated to lose their jobs in latest Steward closures
