While the deadline for bidding on, and auctioning off, some Steward Heath Care-owned properties extended to mid-July, activists return to Haverhill today to tell state leaders to save Holy Family Hospital’s Haverhill campus and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.
The deadline to bid on the hospitals has been extended to July 15 with auctions set for July 18. As WHAV reported last month, Massachusetts Nurse Association Statewide Director Dana Simon told Haverhill city councilors he learned from private conversations with officials that Haverhill’s campus is a great risk of closing absent state intervention.
“Within the highest level of the administration, there is a resignation, that maybe it’s just not so important to worry about Haverhill surviving,” Simon said.
The public, advocates, caregivers and former patients were to gather at 10 this morning at Zin’s Park, across the street from the Haverhill campus of Holy Family Hospital, before sending a delegation to delivering petitions signed by residents of Haverhill and Ayer to the Gov. Maura T. Healy’s office. The petitions call on the Governor, the Attorney General and other state leaders to “step up and use their resources” to save the hospitals.
The petition to be presented to Healey says, in part, “…no one is taking leadership to protect quality healthcare in Haverhill.” It goes on to read, “There are rumors that those in power don’t care about Holy Family Haverhill. They might let it suffer, and eventually close, without doing anything. But instead of facing this problem head-on, politicians are just making vague promises about fixing things later.”
The petition adds, “We’re done with politicians putting on a show; it’s time for them to actually help us get the healthcare we need. While the governor talks about supporting biotech, we want her to also support the hospitals that take care of thousands of people.”
Once at the State House, the delegation will head to the governor’s office to deliver the petition. Organizers said the “strongly worded” petitions highlight the importance of these campuses and “demand leadership” from the state officials. Specifically, they call upon the “Governor, attorney general and legislature to step up and use their power to save our hospital.”