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All Democrats and all running unopposed, Haverhill’s incumbent state legislators say they have advocated for the city as Steward Health Care faces bankruptcy proceedings, and the fate of Holy Family Haverhill hangs in the balance.
With the approach of the primaries Sept. 3 and general election Nov. 5, WHAV asked each of the four about their priorities for their next term, particularly as related to the Steward crisis, which could lead to the closure of the city’s only hospital, a possibility residents have rallied against.
If reelected, Rep. Andy X. Vargas, Sen. Pavel M. Payano and Rep. Ryan M. Hamilton all said they would highly rank reducing the cost of living as Massachusetts becomes less and less affordable.
Vargas, whose district, the 3rd Essex, covers roughly two-thirds of Haverhill, has been in the Massachusetts House since 2017. Hamilton, of the 15th Essex, serves roughly one-third of Haverhill and much of Methuen. He ran unopposed in 2022. Payano’s district, the 1st Essex, was radically reconstituted in 2021, as WHAV reported. Elected in 2022, Payano serves Lawrence and parts of downtown Haverhill.
Sen. Barry R. Finegold, of the 2nd Essex and Middlesex District, did not respond to WHAV in time for publication. He served from 2011 to 2015, and again from 2018 onwards. His district, extending south from Wilmington up into Merrimac, covers all of Haverhill outside the downtown.
As WHAV reported, Finegold this year co-sponsored a budget amendment to boost state education spending as the public school district grappled with a large shortfall. He has also made “deepfakes” a priority, submitting legislation and putting together a panel. His campaign website lists economic development, education and healthcare as other top issues.
Steward Crisis
A nurse union leader sounded the alarm at a City Council meeting in late May, saying the state may give up on Holy Family Haverhill amid Steward’s financial troubles, as WHAV reported. Vargas said Haverhill’s legislative delegation has been on the case.
“Since last fall, we have been in regular communication with the governor’s team, health care workers, unions, docs and even Steward at times,” Vargas said. “We’ve visited both Holy Family campuses multiple times. I have made clear that Haverhill needs a hospital. We’re 36 square miles, 70,000 people. History has shown us that when that building is adequately staffed and taken care of with an owner that prioritizes health over profits—the place is humming.”
Payano pointed out he secured a $250,000 earmark for Health Care for the Homeless, a Greater Lawrence Family Health Center program serving Haverhill, Lawrence and Methuen. The sum is meant “to ensure that our existing health care institutions have the support they need to continue delivering care to those in-need,” he said.
As WHAV reported, the hospital recently unveiled a new mobile health van that drives to meet unhoused people where they are. Payano spoke at the ribbon-cutting.
Both Payano and Vargas praised Gov. Maura T. Healey’s and state health care officials’ handling of the situation. The House in May passed a hospital oversight and health care reform bill. It aims to prevent a similar crisis from happening again, rather than addressing the current turmoil.
Vargas said, “One of the clear problems that stood out to me was that Steward was even allowed to sell and lease back the property it operated on. That should not be allowed for hospitals. A recent bill we passed in the House changes that.”
Combating Growing Costs
If reelected, Vargas, Payano and Hamilton proposed different measures to combat growing unaffordability, including reducing costs related to housing, health care, education and childcare costs.
As WHAV reported, Hamilton sponsored a bill that would make financial literacy coursework a high school graduation requirement. If reelected, he said, “I will continue advocating for lowering childcare costs, financial literacy legislation, and making the commonwealth more affordable for working-class families and seniors.”
In addition to expanding housing access, which Vargas said is the top issue for his constituents, he said his goals include “lowering childcare costs, transportation costs and traffic, supporting seniors with tax credits and programs that allow them to age in place, and advancing policy that will allow every child in MA to live up to their full potential, regardless of the home they’re born into.”
Vargas, one of the sponsors of the 2021 MBTA communities act, previously hosted a Haverhill roundtable, where he, state Housing Secretary Edward M. Augustus and other officials heard about the high costs residents face, as WHAV reported.
Though Payano also mentioned housing, he put health care higher on his list. He said, “I will continue to prioritize making health care more affordable and accessible for all residents, increasing homeownership and making rents more affordable, lowering the cost of auto insurance, securing more funding for our public schools, and supporting local economic development initiatives and our Haverhill small businesses.”
He added he has been an education advocate, championing a budget amendment to help Haverhill and other gateway cities as they battled large deficits, as WHAV reported. The bill did not survive.