News that the future of Nashoba Valley Medical Center is in doubt has been a surprise and a shock to residents and officials alike. How could a vital community hospital be so vulnerable in a state that prides itself on the quality of its medical care? It’s especially galling that it should be happening to Nashoba Valley, a hospital founded by members of the 16 communities now threatened by its closure, among them the late Dr. Jeff Harris of Harvard, who served on its board for many years.
One has to wonder how a health care provider as financially troubled as Steward Health Care could be left to flounder for so many months without the aggressive intervention of the state.
As the governor’s office, the Department of Public Health, and state legislators scramble to find a solution that will keep Steward’s hospitals open, a bill currently before the Joint Committee for Public Health titled “An Act preserving access to hospital services (H.2143/S.1406),” would grant the state authority to take control of financially troubled hospitals.
The bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents Harvard, was introduced nearly one year ago. It’s one of a number of legislative proposals contemplating tighter regulations for hospital operators, the Boston Globe reported recently. But there’s little sign of progress.
It seems clear that Massachusetts needs to do more to maintain its networks of community hospitals or else risk damage to its vaunted reputation as a health care innovator. But we are especially concerned by what seems a lack of urgency regarding the future of the Nashoba Valley Medical Center. We hope our own legislators, Sen. Eldridge and Rep. Dan Sena, are involving themselves as aggressively as their Senate and House colleagues in talks underway in the Legislature and with the DPH and Gov. Healey—speaking up for Nashoba, doing their very best to ensure its continued operation is part of any resolution of Steward’s financial woes.
We urge readers who value having emergency and clinical care available at their doorstep to make their support known to their state delegation, whether here in Harvard or elsewhere in the state.
It’s time to prioritize patients, as Globe business columnist Jon Chesto wrote recently. “It’s a simple but important mission that seems to have been forgotten by the bean counters and investors who sliced and diced Steward up over the years.”
